BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


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GRKAT  SALT  LAKE 


PRKSKNT    AISm     1'AST. 


13  °  West  from,  6rre(;fu»ich. 

i  \ 


II.    Map  of  the  Great  Suit  Lakr. 


III.    Flock  of  Young  Pelicans,  Hat  Island. 


IV.    Gulls  on  Hat  Island. 
Photograph  by  Johnson. 


V.    Saltair  Pavilion:  bird's-eye  view. 


VI.    Side  View  of  Salmir  I';i\  ilion.     (Suit  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  Kailway.) 


X.    Inland  Crystal  Salt  Co.'s  Works.     (Salt  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  Railway.) 


XI.    Coarse  Salt.    Inland  Crystal  Salt  Co. fs  Ponds. 

(On  line  of  Salt  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  Railu  ;iy.  i 


XII. 


XIII. 

Brine  Shrimp,  Artemia  fertilis  (Verril) ;  or  Artemia  gracilis;  from  the  Great 
Salt  Lake.    XII,  male;  XIII,  female. 

From  photomicrographs  by  J.  E.  Talmage. 


XIV.    Map  of  theUrciit  Hasin  and  its  Lakes: 
Copied  from  U.  S.  G.  S.,  Monograph  I:  IMatcII. 


XV.    Map  of  Lake  Bonneville. 
Copied  from  Gilbert's  map;  U.  S.  G.  S.,  Monograph  I. 


XVI.    Shore  Lines  on  Oquirrh  Mountains,  West  Salt  Lake  Valley, 


XVII.    Shore  Lines  of  Lake  Bonneville;  north  mil  of  D.niirrh  Mountains. 
After  sketch  by  Holmes  (U.  S.  G.  S.,  Monojfrsipl'  1 :  >''"te  I.) 


XVIII.     Bonneville  and  Intermediate  Embankments,   near  Wellsville, 

Utah,  showing  contrast  between  littoral  and  sub-aerial 

topography.     (After  Gilbert,  U.  S.  G.  S., 

Monograph  I;  Fig.  21.) 


XIX.    View  on  Salt  Lake  Desert,  showing 
sediments.    (After  Gilbert,  see  U.  S.  G.  ; 


mountains  half  buried  by  lake 
i.,  Monograph  I:  PL  XXXVI.) 


XX.    Ripple  Marks  in  Argillaceous  Sandstone. 
Shore  of  Lake  Bonneville. 


XXI.    Section  of  Moraine,  Mouth  of  Little  Cottonwood  Canyon, 
Suit  Lake  Valley. 


XXII.    Glaciated  Stone,  from  Little  Cottonwood  Moraine. 


THE 


GREAT  SALT  LAKE 


PAST. 


BY 


JAMES  £.  TALMAGE, 


PROFESSOR  OF  GEOLOGY,  UNIVERSITY 
OF  UTAH. 


THB  DKSKRKT  Nicws, 

SAI.T  LAKE  Omr,  UTAH. 

1900. 


G--J  T3 


COPYRIGHT,  1900, 
BY  J.  E.  TALMAGE. 


BANCROFT 

;RY 


In  some  parts  the  following  pages  are  reprints  of 
articles  that  have  appeared  over  the  writer's  signature 
in  local  and  scientific  periodicals  ;  in  other  portions  they 
are  little  more  than  a  compilation  of  facts  already  of 
record.  Perhaps  sufficient  excuse  for  the  present  publi- 
cation may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  reliable  informa- 
tion regarding  the  Great  Salt  Lake  is  of  difficult  access 
to  the  general  reader,  inasmuch  as  it  is  mostly  con- 
tained in  the  valuable  though  ponderous  tomes  of  the 
national  surveys.  The  popular  writings  on  the  subject, 
with  some  exceptions,  have  been  criticized  as  extrava- 
gant and  untrustworthy.  The  truth  regarding  Utah's 
Dead  Sea  is  sufficiently  impressive  without  recourse  to 
fabulous  embellishment,  even  if  such  were  in  any  sense 
justifiable. 

The  writer  has  drawn  freely  on  the  valuable  records 
of  investigators,  and  acknowledgment  of  authorities  has 
been  made  in  place.  J.  E.  T. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH, 
July,  1900, 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

I.     Introductory 21 

II.     Descriptive 26 

III.  The  Lake  as  a  Pleasure  and  Health  Resort.  ...  33 

IV.  Statistical  and  General 43 

V.     The  Lake  Water      55 

VI.     Life  in  the  Lake 67 

VII.    Economic  Importance  of  the  Lake 77 

VIII.    The  Great  Basin 87 

IX.     The  Ancient  Lake— Lake  Bonneville  .  96 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

PRESENT  AND  PAST. 


I 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The  record  of  fact  and  tradition  concerning  the 
Great  Salt  Lake,  as  written  by  the  hand  of  man,  dates 
back  a  little  more  than  two  centuries;  but  a  history  of 
times  far  more  remote  may  be  read  from  Nature's  manu- 
script, inscribed  on  the  stony  pages  of  ancient  shores 
and  in  the  sediment  which  formed  the  floor  of  the  lake 
of  by-gone  days. 

Though  generally  designated  by  the  adjective 
"Great,"  the  Salt  Lake,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  is  but 
a  shrunken  remnant  of  a  vastly  larger  water  body,  which 
once  existed  as  a  veritable  inland  -sea,  completely  filling 
the  valley  in  the  lowest  portion  of  which  the  modern 
lake  rests,  and  extending  beyond  the  northern  and 
western  boundaries  of  the  present  State  of  Utah.  To 
this  ancient  sea  the  name  "Lake  Bonneville"  has 
been  applied. 

But  the  geological  past  of  the  ".Dead  Sea  of  Ameri- 


22  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

ca"  may  well  be  left  for  later  consideration;  we  can  the 
better  interpret  such  after  an  examination  of  existing 
conditions.  It  is,  therefore,  the  lake  of  present  and  his- 
toric times  to  which  attention  is  first  invited. 

Long  prior  to  the  time  at  which  white  men  first 
trod  the  shores  of  this  briny  sea,  strange  stories  of  its 
existence  and  of  the  marvelous  properties  of  its  waters 
had  found  their  way  into  civilized  lands.  In  1689  Baron 
La  Hontan,  a  French  traveler  and  explorer  of  note, 
gathered  from  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Mississippi  val- 
ley their  traditions  of  a  great  salt  sea  lying  amid  the 
solitude  of  the  western  mountains;  and  these  stories, 
doubtless  embellished  by  additions  from  his  own  imagi- 
nation, the  traveler  sought  to  perpetuate.  His  narra- 
tive was  first  published  in  English  in  1735.  No  facts 
of  value  were  given  by  La  Hontan  concerning  the  lake; 
indeed  there  is  room  for  doubt  as  to  whether  the  water- 
body  about  which  the  Indians  had  talked  to  him  was 
the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

In  1776  Padre  Escalante,  a  Spanish  official  exploring 
for  routes  of  travel,  crossed  the  south-eastern  rim  of  the 
Great  Basin  region,  and  followed  the  Timpanogos  or 
Provo  River  (by  him  named  Purisima)  down  to  its 
termination  in  Utah  Lake.  From  the  Indian  tribes 
of  what  is  now  Utah  Valley  he  learned  of  a  lake  many 
leagues  in  extent,  with  waters  extremely  noxious  and 
salty,  lying  in  the  valley  northward.  Escalante  appears 
to  have  contented  himself  with  this  hear-say  informa- 


INTRODUCTORY.  23 

tion,  for  there  is  no  record  of  his  having  reached  the 
shores  of  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Perhaps  the  truth  regarding  the  first  white  man's 
visit  to  the  lake  may  never  he  known.  There  have 
been  many  rival  claimants  for  the  honor  of  having  dis- 
covered the  briny  waters,  and  historians  have  failed 
in  their  efforts  to  decide  the  question  of  priority. 

There  are  many  accounts  of  occasional  visits  to  the 
lake  or  its  vicinity  by  traders  and  trappers  between  1820 
and  1833;  among  such  venturesome  travelers  may  be 
named  Miller  of  the  Astor  company;  Provost  (after 
who  Provo  City  has  been  named),  and  Bridger,  for 
whom  some  strongly  claim  the  honors  of  discovery. 
Hubert  Howe  Bancroft,  the  voluminous  writer  on 
Pacific  Coast  history,  is  one  who  accords  this  credit  to 
Colonel  James  Bridger.  Bridger  is  said  to  have  de- 
scended Bear  River  to  its  mouth  in  the  lake,  the  jour- 
ney having  been  undertaken  to  settle  a  wager  as  to  the 
course  of  the  river  named. 

Between  1831  and  1833  Captain  Bonneville,  a 
Frenchman  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  as  an 
army  officer,  while  traveling  on  leave,  explored  portions 
of  the  lake  shores  and  wrote  short  descriptions,  mostly 
geographical,  which  have  proved  of  value.  Several 
years  later  an  account  of  Bonneville's  explorations  was 
given  publicity  by  Washington  Irving,  whose  book, 
"Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville,"  is  well  known. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  attach  Bonneville's  name  to 


24  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

the  salty  lake,  but  without  success.  As  already  stated, 
the  designation  "Lake  Bonneville"  has  now  been  ap- 
plied to  the  ancient  sea  which  preceded  the  Salt  Lake 
of  today. 

In  1843  John  C.  Fremont,, then  Brevet-Captain  U.S. 
A.,  sighted  the  lake  from  an  elevation  in  Weber  County 
now  known  as  Little  or  Low  Mountain,  and  considered 
himself  the  first  discoverer  of  this  mountain-sea.  He 
likened  himself  to  Bilboa  discovering  the  Pacific. 
Fremont  reached  the  lake  and  rowed  upon  its  waters; 
but  history  denies  him  the  distinction  of  having  been 
first  to  discover  or  to  navigate  the  lake.  Fremont's 
visit  was  made  in  the  course  of  a  government  expedi- 
tion to  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and  his  report*  is  re- 
garded as  the  earliest  authentic  record  of  the  physical 
conditions  of  the  region.  His  party  included  the  re- 
nowned hunter  and  scout,  Kit  Carson,  and  tradition  has 
it  that  a  rude  boat  consisting  of  a  tree-trunk  hollowed- 
out  Indian  fashion,  which  was  found  on  the  shores  of 
the  lake  after  the  settlement  of  the  region  by  the  Mor- 
mon people,  was  the  identical  craft  used  by  Kit  Carson. 
The  boat  in  question  is  now  to  be  seen  at  the  Deseret 
Museum,  Salt  Lake  City.  There  is  much  doubt  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  story,  however,  for  more  authentic  ac- 
counts say  that  the  explorations  of  Fremont  and  Carson 


*  "Report  of  the  Exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in 
the  year  1842,  and  to  Oregon  and  North  California  in  the  years  1843-44," 
by  Brevet-Capt.  J.  C.  Fremont.  Washington,  1845. 


INTRODUCTORY.  25 

on  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  accomplished  in  rubber 
boats. 

In  1849  and  1850  Captain  Howard  Stansbury,  U.  S. 
A.,  under  government  commission  made  a,  fairly  thor- 
ough survey  of  the  lake  and  the  region  contiguous.  His 
report  contained  valuable  data  concerning  the  lake~ 
area,  the  depth,  density,  and  composition  of  the  water, 
and  the  extent  of  the  shore  line.* 

Since  the  advent  of  the  Mormon  pioneers  in  1847, 
and  during  the  phenomenally  rapid  settlement  of  the 
region  and  the  development  of  its  varied  resources,  re- 
liable observations  have  been  recorded,  both  by  resi- 
dents and  by  competent  investigators  operating  under 
private  or  government  auspices.  To  Grove  Karl  Gilbert 
much  praise  is  due  for  his  elaborate  and  masterly  study 
of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  particularly  in  relation  to  its 
past  history.  His  work,  "Lake  Bonneville,"f  is  and 
will  ever  be  a  classic  in  the  geological  literature  of 
America. 


*  "Exploration  and  Survey  of  the  Valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  of 
Utah,"  etc.,  by  Howard  Stansbury,  Capt.  Corps  Topographical  En- 
gineers, U.  S.  A.  Philadelphia,  1852. 

t  Monographs  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Vol.1:— 
"Lake  Bonneville"  by  Grover  Karl  Gilbert;  Washington,  Government 
Printing  Office,  1890. 


II. 

DESCRIPTIVE. 

The  Great  Salt  Lake  today  is  an  object  of  very  gener- 
al interest,  attracting  as  it  does  the  attention  of  scientist, 
lay-scholar,  and  curiosity-seeker  alike.  In  the  popu- 
lar mind  it  holds  a  place  as  one  of  the  strongest  natural 
brines  known,  and  as  the  site  of  attractive  bathing  re- 
sorts. To  the  chemist  this  remarkable  body  of  water 
represents  a  practically  inexhaustible  reservoir  of  valu- 
able material  awaiting  the  potent  influences  of  manu- 
facturing industry.  To  the  geologist  it  appeals  as  the 
dwarfed  remains  of  an  ancient  sea,  with  the  fossil  evi- 
dence of  its  past  history  preserved  in  the  deposits  and 
sculpturing  of  its  abandoned  shores,  and  in  the  sedi- 
ments of  its  desiccated  floor. 

The  events  characterizing  its  principal  epochs  may 
be  determined  with  a  fair  measure  of  accuracy,  and  the 
story  of  its  fluctuations  recounts  the  succession  of  mar- 
velous climatic  changes  through  which  the  region  of  the 
Great  Basin  has  passed. 

As  is  generally  known,  the  Great  Salt  Lake  is  the 
largest  inland  water  body  existing  within  the  United 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  It  lies  in  the 
north  central  part  of  the  State  of  Utah,  between  the 
parallels  111.8  degrees  and  113.2  degrees  longitude 
west  from  Greenwich,  or  34.7  degrees  and  36.1  degrees 


DESCRIPTIVE.  27 

west  from  Washington,  and  between  40.7  degrees  and 
41.8  degrees  north  latitude. 

Owing  to  the  frequent  and  great  fluctuations  in  vol- 
ume incident  to  climatic  variations  and  other  conditions 
of  change,  its  area  is  inconstant,  and  the  recorded  sur- 
veys of  the  water  surface  show  great  discrepancies.  In 
general  terms  its  present  dimensions  have  been  recorded 
as  follows:  Average  length,  75  miles;  greatest  width,  50 
miles;  extent  of  surface,  2,125  square  miles. 

The  altitude  of  the  lake  surface  is  4,210  feet  above 
sea-level;  and  this  fact  alone  is  promise  sufficient  of 
many  interesting  results  to  the  investigator,  for  at 
such  a  height  the  general  conditions  are  unusual.  The 
remarkable  clearness  of  the  atmosphere  throughout  the 
lake  region  appeals  with  force  to  the  visitor,  whose 
persistent  underestimating  of  distance  may  be  either 
amusing  or  annoying.  From  any  convenient  point  of 
vantage  the  observer  may  survey  the  lake  as  a  glassy 
continuation  of  the  valley  floor,  with  mountain-walled 
back  grounds,  which  are  broken  on  the  central  part  of 
the  western  shore  where  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Desert  and 
the  lake  itself  have  a  margin  in  common. 

ISLANDS   OF  THE   LAKE. 

Rising  from  the  water  surface  are  precipitous  is- 
lands, appearing  in  their  true  character  of  mountain 
peaks  and  ranges,  the  lower  part  of  their  masses  being 
submerged .  Of  these  water-girt  mountain  bodies,  Ante- 


28  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

lope  and  Stansbury  islands  are  the  largest;  and  the 
others  are  Carrington,  Fremont,  Gunnison,  Dolphin, 
Mud,  and  Hat  or  Egg  islands,  and  Strong's  Knob.  The 
islands  appear  as  continuations  of  the  mountain  ranges 
which  diversify  the  contiguous  land  area,  and  an  exami- 
nation of  their  structure  confirms  this  inference. 

At  present,  communication  between  main-land  and 
islands  is  effected  by  boat;  though  at  low  water  periods, 
Antelope  and  Stansbury  islands  have  been  accessible 
by  fording.  Limited  areas  of  the  larger  islands  are  un- 
der cultivation,  and  the  regions  have  long  been  utilized 
as  pasture  lands.  Some  discoveries  of  mineralized  de- 
posits have  been  reported  from  the  lake-washed  moun- 
tains but  thus  far  no  profitable  mining  for  metals  has 
been  accomplished. 

The  tiny  hill  whose  summit  rises  from  the  briny 
waters  as  a  rocky  knoll,  known  as  Hat  or  Egg  island,  is  the 
principal  rookery  of  the  feathered  frequenters  of  the 
lake.  There  congregate  during  the  breeding  season 
thousands  of  pelicans  and  gulls,  and  when  they  depart 
they  are  accompanied  by  the  new  generation  of  their 
kind,  in  uncounted  numbers.  A  visit  to  this  isle  of 
nests  at  the  proper  time  reveals  the  spectacle  of  great 
flocks  of  half-fledged  pelicans,  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
their  fisher-parents,  or  ravenously  devouring  the  scaly 
contents  of  the  parental  pouches.  The  fish  thus  sup- 
plied are  caught  by  the  old  birds  at  the  mouths  of  the 
fresh  water  streams  which  feed  the  lake  reservoir. 


ISLANDS,    RIVERS.  29 

On  the  islands,  which  for  ages  have  been  monopo- 
lized by  the  birds  as  a  nesting-ground,  great  deposits  of 
guano  have  accumulated;  and  this  material  is  now  util- 
ized as  a  valuable  fertilizer. 


The  rivers  which  feed  the  lake  all  enter  it  on  the 
eastern  side;  they  depend  upon  the  supplies  furnished  by 
the  Wasatch  and  Uintah  mountains.  Of  these  streams 
the  most  important  are  the  Jordan,  which  brings  down 
from  the  south  the  surplus  waters  of  Utah  Lake,  the 
Weber,  and  the  Bear.  Beside  these  there  are  several 
small  streams  locally  designated  as  creeks,  which  deliver 
a  moderate  contribution  during  high-water  seasons.  Gen- 
erally, however,  the  lower  portions  of  the  creek-beds  are 
dry,  the  water  having  been  diverted  at  higher  levels  for 
irrigation  purposes.  From  the  west  no  streams  reach  the 
lake,  the  few  that  rise  on  this  side  losing  themselves  in 
the  desert  plain,  or  disappearing  entirely  through  evap- 
oration. 

The  scenic  glories  for  which  the  lake  region  is  most- 
ly famed  depend  not  alone  on  mountain  heights,  or 
valley  floor,  neither  on  water  expanse  nor  island  cameos; 
not  on  one  nor  two  nor  all  of  these  combined,  pleasing 
though  the  combination  be;  these  are  but  the  canvas 
on  which  Nature  paints  with  a  richness  beyond  the 
colors  of  purely  earthly  origin.  ?Tis  when  the  sun- 


30  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

beams  fall  aslant  in  the  freshening  dawn,  or  when  the 
orb  of  day  is  sinking  in  the  west,  that  the  landscape  and 
the  water  blaze  forth  with  tints  and  shades  which  the 
artist  strives  in  vain  to  catch  and  imitate. 

A  description  of  such  a  scene  is  a  fit  theme  for  the 
poet;  the  picture  ought  to  be  attempted  by  the  master- 
hand  alone.  But  the  poet — frail  as  the  rest  of  us — 
may  substitute  his  witchery  of  rhythm  and  rhyme  for 
the  actual  harmonies  of  the  desert  scene;  and  the 
painter  may  intrude  his  ideal  into  the  picture.  The 
truth  here  declared  in  Nature's  language  and  colors 
calls  for  no  embellishments.  I  trust  rather  the  scien- 
tific observer,  whose  love  for  the  beautiful, while  no  whit 
less  than  that  professed  and  held  by  his  brothers,  poet 
and  painter,  is  kept  within  the  bounds  of  truthful 
decorum. 

Let  us  call  to  our  service  the  words  of  Prof.  Eussell, 
whose  geological  researches  in  these  and  contiguous 
parts  have  afforded  him  abundant  opportunity  for  ob- 
servation.* 

"The  scenery  about  this  great  lake  of  the  Mormon 
land  and  in  the  encircling  mountains  is  unusually  fine,in 
spite  of  the  aridity  and  the  generally  scant  vegetation 
of  the  region.  The  sensation  of  great  breadth  that  the 
lake  inspires,  together  with  the  picturesque  islands 
diversifying  its  surface,  and  the  utter  desolation  of  its 

*  "Lakes  of  North  America"  by  Israel  C.  Russell,  Professor  of  Geol- 
ogy, University  of  Michigan;  Boston,  Ginn  &  Co.,  1895.  pp.  78-79. 


SCENIC  BEAUTIES.  31 

shores,  give  it  a  hold  on  the  fancy  and  waken  one's 
sense  of  the  artistically  beautiful  in  a  way  that  is  un- 
rivaled by  any  other  lake  of  the  arid  region.  The  un- 
usually clear  air  of  Utah,  especially  after  the  winter 
rains,  renders  distant  mountains  remarkably  sharp  and 
distinct,  particularly  when  the  sun  is  low  in  the  sky  and 
a  strong  side-light  brings  the  sharp  serrate  crests  into 
bold  relief  and  reveals  a  richness  of  sculpturing  that 
was  before  unseen.  At  such  times  the  colors  on  the 
broad  deserts  and  amid  the  purple  hills  and  mountains 
are  more  wonderful  than  artists  have  ever  painted,  and 
exceed  anything  of  the  kind  witnessed  by  the  dweller 
of  regions  where  the  atmosphere  is  moist  and  the  native 
tints  of  the  rock  concealed  by  vegetation.  The  hills 
of  New  England  when  arrayed  in  all  the  gorgeous  pano- 
ply of  autumnal  foliage  are  not  more  striking  than  the 
desert  ranges  of  Utali  when  ablaze  with  the  reflected 
glories  of  the  sunset  sky.  The  rich  native  colors  of  the 
naked  rocks  are  then  kindled  into  glowing  fires,  and 
each  canyon  and  rocky  gorge  is  filled  with  liquid  pur- 
ple, beside  which  even  the  imperial  dyes  would  be  dull 
and  lusterlese. 

"At  such  times  the  glories  of  the  hills  are  mirrored 
in  the  dense  waters  of  the  lake,  their  duplicate  forms 
appearing  in  sharp  relief  on  the  paler  tints  of  the 
reflected  sky.  As  the  sun  sinks  behind  the  far- 
off  mountains,  range  after  range  fades  through  innumer- 
able shades  of  purple  and  violet  until  only  their  highest 


32  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

battlements  catch  the  fading  glory.  The  lingering 
twilight  brings  softer  and  more  mysterious  beauties. 
Eanges  and  peaks  that  were  concealed  by  the  glare  of 
the  noon-day  sun  start  into  life.  Forms  that  were  be- 
fore unnoticed  people  the  distant  plain  like  a  shadowy 
encampment.  At  last  each  remote  mountain  crest  ap- 
pears as  a  delicate  silhouette,  in  which  all  details  are 
lost,  drawn  in  the  softest  of  violet  tints  on  the  fading 
yellow  of  the  sky. 

"To  one  who  only  beholds  the  desert  land  bordering 
Great  Salt  Lake  in  the  full  glare  of  the  unclouded  sum- 
mer sun,  when  the  peculiar  desert  haze  shrouds  the  land- 
scape and  the  strange  mirage  distorts  the  outline  of  the 
hills,  the  scenery  will  no  doubt  be  uninteresting  and  per- 
haps even  repellent.  But  let  him  wait  until  the  cool 
breath  from  the  mountains  steals  out  on  the  plain  and 
the  light  becomes  less  intense,  and  a  transformation  will 
be  witnessed  that  will  fill  his  heart  with  wonder." 


III. 

THE  LAKE  AS  A  PLEASURE  AND  HEALTH  RESORT. 

The  peculiar  advantages  and  attractions  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  for  bathing  purposes  were  known  to  the  earli- 
est white  explorers;  and  even  prior  to  their  visits,  the 
Indians,  who  are  not  famous  for  their  love  of  ablutions, 
had  discovered  the  difference  between  a  dip  in  fresh 
water  and  a  bath  in  this  natural  brine.  The  aborigines 
who  dwelt  near  the  shores  of  Utah  lake  forty  miles  to  the 
south,  specifically  known  as  the  Timpanogotzis,informed 
Padre  Escalante  of  the  strange  properties  of  the  water. 
The  Padre  writes,  "The  other  lake  with  which  this  one 
communicates  is,  as  they  informed  us,  many  leagues 
in  extent;  and  its  waters  are  noxious  and  extremely  salt, 
so  that  the  Timpanogotzis  asserted  to  us  that  when  any 
one  rubbed  a  part  of  his  body  with  it  he  would  feel 
an  itching  sensation  in  the  moistened  part."* 

The  peculiarity  of  the  lake  water  as  a  medium  for 
the  bath  lies  in  its  rich  content  of  dissolved  mineral 
matter,and  in  the  consequent  high  degree  of  density.  Dr. 
L.  D.  Gale  reported  a  specific  gravity  of  1.17  on  a  sam- 
ple collected  in  1850;  with  the  rise  of  the  lake  and  the 
corresponding  dilution  of  the  brine,  the  specific  gravity 

*  Translation  from  the  original  manuscript- journal  of  Padre  Esca- 
lante, describing  his  journeyings  from  Santa  Fe  to  Utah  Lake,  etc.,  in 
1776;  by  Philip  Harry;  published  in  Capt.  Simpson's  Report,  1876;  p.  494. 


34  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

fell  to  1.111  in  1869  (Prof.  0.  D.  Allen),  and  to  1.102  in 
1873  (Bassett);  then  the  density  increased  as  the  lake 
waters  became  more  concentrated,  reaching  1.1225  in 
1885,  1.261  in  1888,  and  1.679  in  1892.  In  December 
1894,  the  density  was  1.1538,  and  in  May  1895,  1.1583; 
in  June  1900,  it  was  1.1576.  These  data  will  be  pre- 
sented in  greater  detail  on  a  subsequent  page. 

It  is  seen  that  the  Salt  Lake  brine  is  among  the  most 
concentrated  and     therefore    the    densest     of     natural 
waters;  indeed  it  is  surpassed  in  point  of  density  by  but 
one  large  water  body — the  Dead  Sea. 


As  would  be  surmised  of  a  liquid  possessing  so  high 
a  specific  gravity,  the  Salt  Lake  water  is  extremely  buoy- 
ant, and  this  fact  the  bather  soon  demonstrates  to  his 
fullest  satisfaction.  It  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  the 
human  body  to  remain  submerged,  and  the  skilful  swim- 
mer may  float  without  effort,  rather  upon  than  in  the 
brine.  One  of  the  earliest  accounts  of  bathing  in  the- 
lake  is  that  given  by  Captain  Howard  Stansbury  in  his 
official  report;  an  abstract  therefrom  is  presented  here- 
with, with  the  simple  comment  that  the  multiplied  ex- 
periences of  many  confirm  his  statements  as  to  general 
properties  and  effects  of  the  water,  and  show  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  individual  experience  described  to  be 
consistent  and  probable: 

"We  frequently  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  bathing  in  the 


LAKE  BATHING.  35 

water  of  the  lake.  No  one  without  witnessing  it  can  form 
any  idea  of  the  buoyant  properties  of  this  singular 
water.  A  man  may  float,  stretched  at  full  length,  upon 
his  back,  having  his  head  and  neck,  both  his  legs  to  the 
knee,  and  both  arms  to  the  elbow,  entirely  out  of  the 
water.  If  a  sitting  position  be  assumed,  with  the  arms 
extended  to  preserve  the  equilibrium,  the  shoulders  will 
remain  above  the  surface.  The  water  is  nevertheless  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  swim  in,  on  account  of  the  constant 
tendency  of  the  lower  extremities  to  rise  above  it.  The 
brine,  too,  is  so  strong,  that  the  least  particle  of  it  get- 
ting into  the  eyes  produces  the  most  acute  pain;  and  if 
acidentally  swallowed,  strangulation  must  ensue.  I 
doubt  whether  the  most  expert  swimmer  could  long  pre- 
serve himself  from  drowning  if  exposed  to  a  rough  sea. 
"Upon  one  occasion  a  man  of  our  party  fell  over- 
board, and  although  a  good  swimmer,  the  sudden  im- 
mersion caused  him  to  take  in  some  mouthfuls  of  water 
before  rising  to  the  surface.  The  effect  was  a  most 
violent  paroxysm  of  strangling  and  vomiting,  and  the 
man  was  unfit  for  duty  for  a  day  or  two  afterward.  He 
would  inevitably  have  been  drowned  had  he  not  received 
immediate  assistance.  After  bathing  it  is  necessary  to 
wash  the  skin  with  fresh  water,  to  prevent  the  deposit  of 
salt  arising  from  evaporation  of  the  brine.  Yet  a  bath 
in  this  water  is  delightfully  refreshing  and  invigor- 
ating."* 

'*  Exploration  and  Survey  of  the  Valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  of 
Utah,"  by  Howard  Stansbury,  1852,  p.  212. 


36  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

The  force  of  waves  on  the  lake  is  astounding  to  one 
who  has  had  experience  in  troubled  waters  of  ordinary 
density  alone.  Even  a  moderate  disturbance  gives  to 
the  shore  breakers  prodigious  power,  and  affords  the 
bather  the  exciting  experience  of  heavy  surf-fighting. 
Storms  on  the  open  lake  are  serious  happenings  to  the 
small  boats  that  navigate  its  surface,  even  though  the  at- 
mospheric disturbance  may  be  that  of  but  an  insignifi- 
cant squall  at  sea. 

As  will  be  readily  understood,  boats  for  service  on 
the  lake  must  be  of  special  construction,  affording 
proper  displacement  in  the  dense  water.  A  craft  that 
would  sink  to  the  water  line  in  sea-water  would  ride  so 
high  on  the  lake  brine  as  to  be  top-heavy  and  unsafe. 


The  natural  attractions  of  the  lake  as  a  pleasure  re- 
sort have  been  recognized  from  the  time  of  the  first  set- 
tlement of  the  valley.  Long  prior  to  the  erection  of 
bath  houses  and  pavilion  piers,  the  shores  were  fre- 
quented by  pleasure-seekers  with  whom  boating  and 
bathing  were  favorite  sports.  At  the  present  time  there 
are  a  number  of  resorts  at  different  places  along  the 
shore,  but  of  these  two  only  are  of  considerable  propor- 
tions. These  in  the  order  of  their  establishment  are  Gar- 
field  Beach  and  Saltair  Beach  resorts.  They  are  both 
situated  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  lake,  within 
easy  access  by  rail  from  Salt  Lake  City. 


SALTAIR.  37 

In  this  part,  the  lake  shore  and  bottom,  free  from 
rocky  irregularities  and  mud,  is  covered  with  a  peculiar 
and  uniform  deposit  of  "oolitic  sand,"  which  forms  an 
ideal  bathing  floor.  Firm  to  a  moderate  degree,  it  is 
yet  conveniently  soft  and  elastic,  affording  to  the  wader 
and  to  all  who  desire  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  shallow 
water  the  advantages  of  a  prepared  bottom. 

SALTAIE. 

The  Saltair  Beach  resort  is  a  monumental  testimoni- 
al to  the  enterprising  energy  of  Utah  capitalists.  The 
pavilion  is  situated  thirteen  miles  due  west  from  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  may  be  reached  by  a  twenty  minute  ride 
on  the  Salt  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  railroad.  The  rail- 
way here  runs  over  a  recently  desiccated  portion  of  the 
old  lake  bottom,  which  preserves  many  features  of  actual 
desolation,  and  affords  an  illustration  of  what  the  entire 
valley  was  in  the  geological  yesterday.  Saline  pools 
and  playas  appear  as  the  shore  is  approached,  and  vege- 
tation dies  away,  save  occasional  patches  of  wild  sage, 
(Artemisia  tridentata),  greasewood  (Sarcolatus  vermi- 
cularis))  and  rabbit  brush  (Lynosyris). 

The  train  runs  on  a  pile-supported  track  4,000  feet 
into  the  lake  before  the  pavilion  is  reached.  The  build- 
ings form  a  symmetrical  group,  with  a  large  central 
structure  connected  with  a  semicircular  extension  at 
each  end  curving  toward  the  lake.  The  architecture  is  af- 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

ter  the  Moorish  style,  and  the  general  effect  is  as  beauti- 
ful as  the  structure  is  substantial  and  serviceable.  The 
pavilion  was  erected  in  1893  at  a  cost  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million  dollars. 

In  length  the  buildings  extend  over  1,115  feet,  with 
a  maximum  width  of  335  feet.  The  top  of 
the  main  tower  is  130  feet  above  the  water  sur- 
face. Part  of  the  lower  floor  serves  as  a  lunch  and 
refreshment  pavilion;  the  area  thus  utilized  is  151  by 
252  feet.  The  upper  floor  in  the  main  building  is  used 
as  a  ball  room;  its  dimensions  are  140x250  feet.  The 
dancing  floor  is  domed  by  a  roof  constructed  after  the 
plan  of  that  covering  the  famed  Salt  Lake  City  Taber- 
nacle, and  the  proportions  of  the  two  vast  assembly 
rooms  are  nearly  the  same. 

On  the  semi-circular  sweeps  which  flank  the  central 
pavilion  620  bath-rooms  are  provided.  The  bathing 
appointments  are  of  the  best,  and  the  many  flights  of 
stairs  leading  to  the  water  reach  the  bottom  at  points 
giving  a  range  of  depth  from  fifteen  inches  to  four  feet. 
Deeper  water  may  be  reached  at  some  distance  outward. 
During  the  bathing  season  the  observed  temperature 
of  the  water  ranges  from  50  degrees  to  86  degrees  F. 

At  night  the  pavilion  is  brilliantly  illuminated  by 
means  of  electric  lamps.  There  are  1,250  incandescent 
lights  and  40  ordinary  arc  lights,  with  one  arc  light  of 
2,000  candle  power  surmounting  the  main  tower. 

As  would  be  naturally  expected,  a  resort  of  such  at- 


SALTAIR.  39 

tractiveness  is  secure  in  the  matter  of  patronage.  The 
records  show  an  annual  total  of  over  160,000  visitors. 

The  buildings  are  supported  on  2,500  piles  each  10 
inches  in  square  cross-section,  and  driven  14  feet  into 
the  lake  bottom.  Owing  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
formation,  the  piles  are  of  unusual  stability.  To  a  depth 
of  a  few  inches  the  bottom  consists  of  loose  or  slightly 
compacted  oolitic  sand;  for  two  feet  or  more  beneath 
this  is  a  layer  of  sand  cemented  by  calcareous  matter; 
then  with  a  thickness  of  seven  or  eight  feet  comes  a 
layer  of  sodium  sulphate: — the  mirabilite  of  the  miner- 
alogist and  the  glauber  salts  of  commerce — doubtless 
precipitated  from  the  lake  water  during  an  earlier  stage 
of  its  history. 

In  the  work  of  pile-driving  it  was  found  to  be  prac- 
tically impossible  to  penetrate  this  layer  of  "soda,"  even 
with  the  best  steel-pointed  instruments.  A  method  at 
once  simple  and  efficient  was  adopted.  Through  pipes, 
steam  under  moderate  pressure  was  conveyed  to  the 
sodium  sulphate  bed;  the  substance  dissolved  at  once, 
and  the  driving  of  piles  became  easy.  Concerning  the 
stability  of  the  piles  when  driven,  Mr.  C.  W.  Miller, 
manager  for  the  Saltair  Beach  Company,  writes,  "After 
the  piling  has  been  allowed  to  set  for  twenty-four  hours, 
it  is  impossible  to  drive  it  even  a  quarter  of  an  inch, 
though  you  might  hammer  the  piling  until  you  wore  it 
down/'  This  bed  of  mirabilite  extends  for  an  undeter- 
mined though  certainly  a  very  considerable  area  inland, 


40  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

for  wherever  canals  have  been  cut  to  a  sufficient  depth 
in  connection  with  the  salt  ponds  inshore,  the  substance 
has  been  encountered  as  a  continuous  layer,  though  of 
varying  thickness. 

GARFIELD. 

The  present  Garfield  Beach  resort  may  be  regarded 
as  a  development  of  years,  the  stages  of  which  were 
marked  by  the  successful  operation  of  many  minor  es- 
tablishments. As  early  as  1876  a  small  pavilion  and 
about  a  hundred  bath-rooms  were  erected  at  Lake 
Point — a  little  less  than  two  miles  beyond  the  site  of  the 
existing  pavilion,  on  the  line  of  the  Utah  and  Nevada 
railway.  This  enterprise  was  carried  on  under  railway 
auspices,  at  the  instance  of  Hon.  W.  W.  Eiter.  In 
1885  Captain  Thomas  Douris  built  a  pier,  and  provided 
bathing  and  boating  facilities  near  the  present  location 
of  Garfield  pavilion.  A  year  or  so  later  the  railway 
company  constructed  bath-rooms  at  Black  Rock.  But 
all  of  these  temporary  acommodations  were  superceded 
in  1887  by  the  construction  of  the  commodious  pavilion 
now  in  service.  This  comprises  two  hundred  bath- 
rooms, and  ample  provisions  for  promenades  and  halls. 
Its  original  cost  was  over  $70,000,  to  which  may  be  add- 
ed nearly  half  as  much  more  for  subsequent  improve- 
ments. The  attendance  of  pleasure-seekers  at  the 
Beach  has  reached  a  total  of  84,000  in  a  single  year.  The 
resort  is  on  the  line  of  the  Utah  and  Nevada  road, 


GARFIELD.  41 

which  now  is  operated  as  a  branch  of  the  Oregon  Short 
Line  railway. 

In  driving  the  piles  for  Garfield  pavilion  a  layer  of 
sodium  sulphate,  locally  known  as  "soda,"  was  struck, 
as  already  described  in  connection  with  the  work  at  Salt- 
air.  As  the  simple  method  of  using  steam  in  penetra- 
ting the  soda  layer  was  not  suggested,  steel-shod  piles 
had  to  be  used;  and  even  with  such  the  work  was  not  ac- 
complished without  difficulty  and  high  cost. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  procure  a  supply  of 
artesian  water  at  Garfield  and  at  Saltair.  Pipes  have 
been  driven  on  shore,  and  into  the  lake  bottom.  Good 
flows  are  generally  struck  at  a  depth  of  from  100  to  150 
feet,  but  the  water  is  always  salty  or  brackish.  All 
the  potable  water  used  at  the  resorts  named  is  con- 
veyed from  a  distance. 


Beside  boating  and  bathing,  the  lake  offers  attrac- 
tions to  the  lover  of  the  gun.  Wild  duck  and  other  water 
fowl  congregate  in  the  brackish  water  near  the  mouths 
of  inflowing  streams,  and  on  many  of  the  lake  islands. 

The  lake  is  steadily  growing  in  popularity  and  favor 
as  a  pleasure  and  health  resort.  Situated  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  high  roads  of  trans-continental  travel,  it  is 
visited  every  year  by  multitudes.  From  the  east  it  is 
reached  by  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Rio  Grande  West- 


42  THE  GREAT  gALT  LAKE. 

ern  railways,  and  from  the  weat  by  the  Southern  Pacific 
line. 

The  general  purity  of  the  atmosphere,  the  exhilar- 
ating effect  of  the  lake-breezes,  the  benefits  of  altitude, 
and  the  pleasing  climate  unite  in  making  the  lake  region 
a  natural  sanitarium.  Lovers  of  pleasure  and  health- 
seekers  flock  to  this  mountain-girt  lake  in  rapidly  in- 
creasing numbers  every  year. 


IV. 

STATISTICAL  AND  GENERAL. 

It  is  well  known  that  an  enclosed  water  body,  such 
as  a  lake  devoid  of  an  outlet,  is  particularly  sensitive 
to  climatic  changes.  Such  a  lake  rises  and  falls  as 
evaporation  increases  or  diminishes  in  relation  to  sup- 
ply by  precipitation.  The  variations  in  volume  as 
shown  by  the  shore-records  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  are 
unusually  large. 

The  fluctuations  in  surface  area  are  even  greater 
than  would  be  expected  from  a  study  of  the  variable  re- 
lations between  supply  and  loss;  and  this  fact  is  ex- 
plained by  the  very  gradual  inclination  of  the  shores. 
The  entire  valley  is  remarkable  for  its  flatness,  as  any 
observer  may  see  for  himself  if  he  will  climb  one  of  the 
hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Salt  Lake  City;  but  even  more 
striking  is  the  small  increase  of  water  depth  as  one 
passes  from  the  lake-shore  outward. 

A  slight  rise  in  the  lake  level  results  therefore  in  a 
great  increase  of  water  surface.  As  was  pointed  out  by 
Stansbury,  a  rise  of  but  a  few  feet  would  enable  the  lake 
to  reclaim  a  large  part  of  its  former  domain  over  what 
is  now  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Desert, 

The  writer  has  conversed  with  residents  of  towns 
near  the  shore  who  remember  when  the  water's  edge  was 
in  places  two  miles  beyond  its  present  line;  and  the 


44  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

same  people  are  able  to  point  out  the  ruins  of  farm 
fences  a  mile  inland  from  the  present  margin,  marking 
the  location  of  fields  which  were  destroyed  by  the  rising 
waters,  and  which  are  now  left  dry  and  barren. 

We  have  of  ready  access  two  reliable  maps  of  the 
lake,  by  comparison  of  which  recent  variations  in  the 
water  area  may  be  demonstrated.  The  earlier  of  these 
is  Stansbury's  map,  based  on  work  done  in  1849  and 
1850,  at  which  time  the  lake  stood  at  the  lowest  level 
observed  by  man ;  and  the  later  map  is  that  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  Clarence  King  in  connection  with 
the  field  work  of  the  Fortieth  Parallel  Survey,  dated 
1869,  when  the  water  was  approaching  the  highest 
stage  of  recent  times.  According  to  the  first  of  these 
the  lake  covered  1,750  square  miles;  the  second  survey 
showed  an  area  of  2,170  square  miles. 

As  would  be  inferred  from  the  foregoing  facts,  the 
average  depth  of  the  lake  is  subject  to  small  and  slow 
variations  only.  On  the  whole  the  lake  is  extremely 
shallow.  In  1850  the  greatest  depth  found  was  but 
36  feet,  and  the  average  but  13  feet.  Later,  the  lake 
rose  10  feet,  with  a  consequent  increase  of  water  area 
through  the  submergence  of  the  flat  shore-borders,  but 
with  an  increase  of  average  depth  not  exceeding  5  feet. 
The  maximum  depth  observed  at  the  highest  stage  was 
49  feet.  The  average  depth  of  Salt  Lake  today  is  prob- 
ably not  more  than  15  feet. 

The  fact  that  the  lake  is  a  closed  water  body  with  no 


FLUCTUATIONS  IN  VOLUME.  45 

out-flowing  stream,  would  indicate  the  certainty  of 
variations  in  its  volume,  unless  indeed  the  improbable 
chance  of  a  constant  balance  between  the  supply  fur- 
nished by  precipitation,  and  the  loss  through  evapora- 
tion were  realized.  A  body  of  water  provided  with  a 
channel  of  ready  discharge  may  maintain  a  tolerably 
constant  level,  the  outlet  acting  as  a  regulator  and  per- 
mitting the  escape  of  the  surplus  water;  but  the  level  of 
a  lake  entirely  enclosed  will  depend,  as  stated,  upon  the 
relation  between  the  supply  and  the  loss  through  evapor- 
ation. 

For  an  undetermined  period  prior  to  1850  or  there- 
abouts, the  Salt  Lake  had  been  steadily  diminishing  in 
volume.  For  ten  or  fifteen  years  after  the  time  named 
the  water  oscillated  with  a  tendency  to  rise;  then  it  rose 
rapidly  and  reached  its  maximum  height  in  the  course 
of  this  increase  of  volume  about  1872  or  1874.  Al- 
though it  is  now  sinking  year  by  year,  it  has  not  yet 
reached  its  low  level  of  1850. 

Antelope  Island,  one  of  the  land  bodies  of  the  lake, 
is  connected  by  a  bar  with  the  delta  of  the  Jordan  Eiver; 
this  bar  is  now  under  water  at  a  depth  of  3  to  8  feet. 
Fremont  records  that  on  August  13,  1845,  he  rode 
across  the  bar  to  Antelope  Island,  the  water  being  in 
no  part  more  than  3  feet  in  depth.* 

There  is  a  well-defined  and  regularly  recurring  an- 
nual oscillation  of  the  lake,  marked  by  a  higher  water 


*  Fremont's  "Memoirs"  I,  p.  431. 


46  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

level  in  May  and  June,  and  a  low  stage  in  the  late  sum- 
mer months;  but  beside  this,  oscillations  of  wider  dur- 
ation are  known  to  occur.  A  combination  of  evidence 
from  many  sources  points  to  the  following  facts;  they 
are  presented  in  Gilbert's  words: 

"From  1847  to  1850  the  bar  was  very  dry  during 
the  low  stage  of  each  winter,  and  in  summer  covered 
by  not  more  than  20  inches  of  water.  Then  began  a 
rise  which  continued  until  1855  or  1856.  At  that  time 
a  horseman  could  with  difficulty  ford  in  winter,  but  all 
communication  was  by  boat  in  summer.  Then  the 
water  fell  for  a  series  of  years,  until  in  1860  and  1861  the 
bar  was  again  dry  in  winter.  The  spring  of  1862  was 
marked  by  an  unusual  fall  of  rain  and  snow,  whereby 
the  streams  were  greatly  flooded  and  the  lake  surface 
was  raised  several  feet.  In  subsequent  years  the  rise 
continued,  until  in  1865  the  ford  became  impassable. 
According  to  Mr.  Miller,  the  rise  was  somewhat  rapid 
until  1868,  from  which  date  until  the  establishment  of 
the  guages,  there  occurred  only  minor  fluctuations."* 

A  bar  connecting  Stansbury  Island  with  the  main- 
land was  dry  in  1850.  Since  the  rise  of  the  lake  in  or 
about  1865,  the  bar  has  never  been  entirely  above  water, 
though  at  present  it  is  fordable  during  the  entire  year. 
The  islands  have  been  used  as  herd  grounds  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Salt  Lake  Valley,  the  cattle  being  trans- 


*'-Lake  Bonneville,"  p.  240;  "Lands  of  the  Arid  Regions,"  oh.  iv. 


ARIDITY  OF  THE  REGION.  47 

ferred  from  the  shore  or  back  during  the  low  water 
periods.  The  Stansbury  bar  is  7  feet  higher  than  the 
bar  running  to  Antelope  Island. 

These  fluctuations,  while  surprisingly  great  when 
placed  in  comparison  with  ordinary  lake  oscillations.,  are 
trifling  as  compared  with  the  great  variations  in  volume 
which  marked  the  stages  of  Bonneville  history.  We 
observe  current  changes  actually  in  progress,  while  the 
variations  of  earlier  times  we  can  but  picture  in  imagi- 
nation. 


The  aridity  of  the  Great  Basin  is  due  to  the  very 
small  precipitation  of  moisture  and  to  the  great  evap- 
oration resulting  from  the  high  temperature.  Humid 
air  currents  traveling  eastward  from  the  Pacific  suffer  a 
condensation  of  their  vapor  before  reaching  the  Basin; 
when  they  arrive  their  condition  is  changed  to  that  of 
drying  winds. 

An  estimate  of  the  energy  of  the  evaporation  process 
may  be  made  as  follows:  The  preparation  of  salt  from 
the  lake  water  constitutes  at  present  an  important  in- 
dustry. In  the  process  of  manufacture,  the  lake  brine 
is  pumped  into  elevated  conduits  through  which  it  is 
conveyed  to  large  ponds;  in  the  ponds  it  evaporates 
without  artifical  heat.  The  pond  area,  the  pump  dis- 
charge per  hour,  and  the  length  of  time  during  which 
the  pumps  have  to  be  operated  in  order  to  keep  the 


48  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

water  at  the  same  level  in  the  ponds,  may  all  be  deter- 
mined. From  the  official  reports  of  one  of  the  salt 
companies,  it  is  learned  that  their  ponds  cover  971  acres; 
that  the  pumps  discharge  14,000  gallons  of  water  per 
minute,  and  that  when  the  ponds  have  been  filled,  it  is 
necessary  to  operate  the  pumps  to  their  full  capacity 
from  ten  to  twelve  hours  daily  during  the  summer 
months  in  order  to  maintain  the  level.  Making  allow- 
ance at  the  start,  as  a  guard  against  over-estimate,  let 
us  assume  that  the  evaporating  surface  of  the  ponds  is 
1,000  acres  in  area.  At  the  rate  of  14,000  gallons  per 
minute,  8,400,000  gallons  would  be  delivered  in  ten 
hours.  This  represents  the  loss  by  evaporation  per  day 
of  24  hours.  Considering  the  lake  surface  to  be  2,125 
square  miles — the  usually  accepted  area — the  rate  of 
evaporation  shown  above  would  indicate  a  daily  removal 
from  the  lake  of  11,424,000,000  gallons  of  water,  or 
342,720,000,000  gallons  per  month  of  30  days.  The 
weight  of  the  water  so  lifted  is  95,447,916  tons  per  day 
or  2,863,  437,500  tons  per  month.  The  same  high 
rate  of  evaporation  continues  through  at  least  three 
months  of  the  year.  The  estimate  here  indulged  in  is 
founded  on  the  unproved  supposition  that  the  rate  of 
loss  is  the  same  over  the  deep  parts  of  the  lake  body  as 
from  the  shallow  pond  waters;  it  is  evident  indeed  that 
such  cannot  be  the  case;  but  even  if  the  numbers  would 
more  nearly  represent  the  truth  when  halved,  quartered, 
or  divided  by  ten,  the  result  is  sufficiently  astounding. 


INCREASE    OF   WATER-SUPPLY  49 

As  is  now  generally  known,  there  has  been  a  notable 
increase  in  the  water  supply  of  the  Salt  Lake  valley, 
and  indeed  of  the  entire  Basin  .Region,  within  the  period 
of  human  occupancy.  The  supply  keeps  ahead  of  the 
demands  of  the  growing  population.  By  way  of  ex- 
ample, I  cite  the  following  items  of  traditional  history, 
for  which  information  I  am  indebted  to  the  Historian's 
Office,  Salt  Lake  City:  Between  1850  and  1860  the  site 
of  the  present  town  of  Kaysville  was  first  occupied  for 
habitation.  For  years  after  the  time  of  first  settle- 
ment, a  dozen  families  composed  the  entire  population, 
and  the  settlers  were  loath  to  welcome  additions  to  their 
numbers,  owing  to  scarcity  of  water.  The  tiny  creek 
on  the  banks  of  which  the  diminutive  and  scattered  vil- 
lage had  been  established,  scarcely  furnished  water 
enough  for  the  irrigation  of  the  few  small  farms  owned 
by  the  settlers.  Kaysville  now  is  a  thriving  little  town 
with  a  population  of  over  1,800.  Similar  conditions 
have  prevailed  in  the  history  of  other  towns  on  the  lake 
margin.  Forty-five  years  ago  ten  families  composed  the 
population  of  Farmington  and  fourteen  that  of  Bounti- 
ful. These  places  are  at  present  prosperous  towns,  the 
first  with  over  a  thousand  inhabitants,  the  second  sup- 
porting over  2,500  souls.  The  prevailing  pursuit  of  the 
people  is  agriculture,  and  water  is  needed  for  every 
farm.  Yet  there  is  enough  and  to  spare,  and  additions 
to  the  farming  population  are  regarded  as  desirable. 

To  account  for  this  remarkable  increase  in  the  water 


50  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

supply,  numerous  theories  have  been  proposed,  most 
of  them  meeting  with  temporary  favor,  soon  to  be  lost. 
Of  such  theories  three  are  generally  current;  these  are 
called  respectively,  the  volcanic  theory,  the  climatic 
theory,  and  the  theory  of  human  agencies.* 

The  volcanic  theory  supposes  the  increase  to  be 
merely  an  apparent  rise  in  the  lake  volume,  and  this  is 
ascribed  to  erogenic  disturbances  whereby  the  lake  bot- 
tom has  been  deformed,  and  the  water  caused  to  recede 
from  some  parts  and  to  overflow  others.  The  hypothesis 
is  untenable  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  the  elevation  of 
lake  level  is  real,  indicating  an  actual  increase  in  the 
water  volume.  The  water  has  risen  along  the  entire 
shore  line.  On  the  islands  and  along  the  mainland 
margin  old  storm  lines  are  now  submerged,  and  every- 
where the  shore  has  been  transferred  inland.  Independ- 
ent observation  confirms  the  belief  that  the  rising  of  the 
lake  is  due  to  an  increase  in  the  water  supply  of  the 
entire  hydrographic  basin,  for  the  streams  have  all 
grown  in  volume  to  a  degree  commensurate  with  the 
lake  growth.  The  water  body  not  only  rose  with  com- 
parative rapidity  above  a  height  which  for  an  indefinite 
period  had  marked  its  maximum  limit,  but  it  main- 
tained its  higher  level  for  more  than  a  decade;  and  such 
a  condition  is  not  explicable  on  the  supposition  of  a 
simple  deformation  of  the  bed.  With  reference  to  the 
general  and  actual  rising  of  the  water  in  opposition  to 

*  '-Lands  of  the  Arid  Regions,"  p.  67. 


INCREASE  OF   WATER-SUPPLY.  51 

any  supposed  increase  which  is  apparent  only,  I  quote 
from  the  "Lands  of  the  Arid  Begions,"  page  67: 

"The  farmers  of  the  eastern  and  southern  margins 
have  lost  pastures  and  meadows  by  submergence.  At 
the  north,  Bear  River  Bay  has  advanced  several  miles 
upon  the  land.  At  the  west,  a  boat  has  recently  sailed 
a  number  of  miles  across  tracts  that  were  traversed  by 
Captain  Stansbury' s  land  parties.  That  officer  has  de- 
scribed and  mapped  Strong's  Knob  and  Stansbury  Island 
as  peninsulas,  but  they  have  since  become  islands.  An- 
telope Island  is  no  longer  accessible  by  ford,  and  Egg 
Island,  the  nesting  ground  of  the  gulls  and  pelicans, 
has  become  a  reef.  Springs  that  supplied  Captain 
Stansbury  with  fresh  water  near  Promontory  Point  are 
now  submerged  and  inaccessible;  and  other  springs 
have  been  covered  on  the  shores  of  Antelope,  Stansbury, 
and  Fremont  Islands." 

The  climatic  theory  refers  the  phenomenon  of  in- 
crease to  a  permanent  change  in  the  conditions  control- 
ling precipitation  and  evaporation  within  the  drainage 
basin.  While  the  recorded  observations  of  rainfall  are 
few,  an  actual  increase  in  precipitation  is  indicated.  An 
increase  of  less  than  ten  per  cent  would  probably  ac- 
count for  the  observed  phenomena,  and  the  influence  of 
climatic  change  appears  to  be  a  probable  explanation,  in 
part  at  least,  of  the  greater  supply. 

Major  Powell  has  advocated  the  claim  of  the  theory 
of  human  agency.  By  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  and 


52  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

the  deforesting  of  the  hill  slopes,  man  favors  the  rapid 
removal  of  the  precipitated  moisture  through  the  in- 
crease of  stream  volume.  Well  covered  soil  retains 
the  moisture  whether  it  fall  as  rain  or  as  snow,  and  in 
time  returns  it  to  the  atmosphere  through  the  medium 
of  evaporation.  The  more  completely  the  precipitated 
water  is  so  held,  the  less  reaches  the  lake,  through 
stream  discharge;  and  conversely,  as  the  streams  are  aug- 
mented the  lake  rises.  Considering  the  theory  of  cli- 
matic change  and  that  of  human  agency  as  the  two  hy- 
potheses most  worthy  of  credence,  the  writer  of  chap- 
ter iv  of  "Lands  of  the  Arid  Regions,"  says: 

"On  the  whole,  it  may  be  most  wise  to  hold  the  ques- 
tion an  open  one  whether  the  water  supply  of  the  lake 
has  been  increased  by  a  climatic  change  or  by  human 
agency.  So  far  as  we  now  know,  neither  theory  is  in- 
consistent with  the  facts,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  truth 
includes  both.  The  former  appeals  to  a  cause  that  may 
perhaps  be  adequate,  but  is  not  independently  known  to 
exist.  The  latter  appeals  to  causes  known  to  exist, 
but  quantitatively  undetermined.  It  is  gratifying  to 
turn  to  the  economic  bearings  of  the  question,  for  the 
theories  best  sustained  by  facts  are  those  most  flattering 
to  the  agricultural  future  of  the  Arid  Region.  If  the 
filling  of  the  streams  and  the  rising  of  the  lake  were  due 
to  a  transient  extreme  of  climate,  that  extreme  would 
be  followed  by  the  return  to  a  mean  condition,  or  per- 
haps by  an  oscillation  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  a 


INCREASE  OP  WATER-SUPPLY.  53 

large  share  of  the  fields  now  productive  would  be 
stricken  by  drought  and  returned  to  the  desert.  If  the 
increase  of  water  supply  is  due  to  a  progressive  change  of 
climate  forming  part  of  a  long  cycle,  it  is  practically  per- 
manent, and  future  changes  are  more  likely  to  be  in 
the  same  advantageous  direction  than  in  the  opposite. 
The  lands  now  reclaimed  are  assured  for  years  to  come, 
and  there  is  every  encouragement  for  the  work  of  utiliz- 
ing the  existing  streams  to  the  utmost.  And  finally,  if 
the  increase  of  water  supply  is  due  to  the  changes 
wrought  by  the  industries  of  the  white  man,  the  pros- 
pect is  even  better." 


As  has  been  stated,  the  lake  is  now  steadily  decreas- 
ing in  volume.  This  cannot  be  regarded  as  evidence 
of  a  turn  in  the  series  of  climatic  changes  toward  a 
state  of  increasing  aridity,  nor  as  proof  of  less  potent 
human  influences.  As  population  grows,  the  area  of 
land  brought  under  cultivation  enlarges  very  rapidly, 
and  many  of  the  streams,  which  but  a  few  years  ago  made 
important  contributions  to  the  lake  volume,  now  send 
but  an  insignificant  tribute;  and  in  other  instances  the 
stream  channels  below  the  uplands  are  entirely  dry  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  year.  There  is  little  ground 
for  doubt  that  in  the  near  future  even  the  flood  season 
contributions  of  water  will  be  practically  cut  off,  for  the 
increasing  demands  of  the  growing  irrigation  system 


54  THE  GREAT  SALT   LAKE. 

will  compel  the  construction  of  artificial  reservoirs  in 
the  upper  stream  regions,  and  thus  the  water  will  be 
stored  for  subsequent  distribution  upon  the  land. 

The  geological  evidence  of  a  former  desiccation  of 
the  lake  is  conclusive,  and  the  industrial  energy  of  man 
is  assuredly  contributing  in  a  very  effective  manner  to  the 
process  of  present  shrinkage;  but  that  the  desiccation 
shall  again  reach  completion  in  the  near  future  is  by 
no  means  certain.  As  the  lake  surface  diminishes,  the 
area  exposed  to  solar  evaporation  is  lessened,  and  a 
level  may  be  reached  at  which  the  loss  by  evaporation 
will  be  more  nearly  met  by  the  stream  supply. 


V. 

THE  LAKE  WATER. 

The  variation  in  volume  and  the  consequent  oscilla- 
tions in  level  characterizing  a  lake  without  outlet,  and 
the  particularly  striking  example  of  such  afforded  by 
the  Great  Salt  Lake  have  been  already  referred  to.  As 
shown  by  geological  investigation,  the  lake  has  shrunk, 
from  a  level  approximately  600  feet  above  the  present 
surface  to  its  existing  volume,  by  desiccation  alone. 
Thus  through  long  ages  the  solid  matter  leached  from 
rock  and  soil  and  carried  into  the  lake  by  streams  has 
been  undergoing  concentration,  until  the  water  has 
reached  its  present  condition  of  unusual  density. 
Analyses  of  samples  of  lake  water  collected  at  times  of 
high  and  low  level  show  great  variations  in  dissolved 
solids,  and  these  variations  are  of  course  approximately 
commensurate  with  the  fluctuations  in  volume. 

The  first  recorded  determination  of  the  solids  dis- 
solved in  the  lake  water  is  that  of  Dr.  L.  D.  Gale,  pub- 
lished in  Stansbury's  report.  Gale's  results  together 
with  those  of  later  examinations  are  presented  here.* 


*  For  compilation  of  analyses  of  Salt  Lake  water  with  a  discussion 
of  the  same,  see  Monograph  I.,  U.  8.  Geological  Survey,— "Lake  Bonne- 
ville,"  by  G.  K.  Gilbert,  pp.  252-254. 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 


Solid  contents  and  specific  gravity   of  water  taken 
from  the  Great  Salt  Lake: 


Total  Solidt. 
Per  cent  by     Grains  per 


Date  of 
Collection. 
1850  

Specif 
G-ranty. 
....1.170 

weight. 
22.282 

litre  o? 
sample. 
260  69 

Authority. 
L  D  Gale 

1869  (summer) 

1.111 

149934 

166  57 

O  D   Allen 

August,  1873  
December  1885 

....1.102 
1  1225 

13.42 
16  7162 

147.88 
187  65 

H.  Bassett. 
J  E  Talmage 

1  1961 

June  1889 

1  148 

>i  >i       11 

August,  1889  
August,  1892  

....1.1569 
....1.156 

19.5576 
20.51 

226.263 
238.12 

E.  Waller. 

September,  1892  . 
1893 

....1.1679 

21.47 
20  05 

250.75 

J.  E.  Talmage. 
J  T  Kingsbury 

December,  1894.. 
May,  1895  

....1.1538 
1.1583 

21.16 
21.39 

244.144 

247.760 

J.  E.  Talmage. 

June  1900 

1  1576 

2090 

241  98 

H  N    McCoy  and* 

Thomas  Hadley. 

The  difference  existing  between  the  writer's  results 
from  the  sample  collected  September  1892,  and  those 
obtained  by  Waller  on  a  sample  taken  during  the  pre- 
ceding month,  is  greater  than  would  be  expected  from 
the  progressive  concentration  during  so  short  an  inter- 
val. It  is  more  likely  due  to  an  actual  difference  between 
the  samples,  they  probably  having  been  taken  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  lake. 

The  statements  most  commonly  current  regarding 
the  solid  contents  of  the  lake  water  are  based  on  the 
earliest  examination  by  Gale.  In  1889f  the  present 
writer  protested  against  this  excessive  estimate  of  aver- 
age composition,  as  at  that  time  the  lake  was  and  for 

*  Specific  gravity  determined  by  Dr.  McCoy;  total  solids  by  Mr. 
Hadley. 

t  "The  Waters  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,"  by  J.  E.  Talmage,  Sci- 
ence (New  York),  December,  188d;  vol  xiv,,  pp.  444—446. 


THE  LAKE  WATER.  57 

many  years  preceding  had  been  at  a  relatively  high 
level  and  of  corresponding  dilution.  The  opinion  was 
then  expressed  that  "it  would  be  more  correct  to  quote 
the  average  contents  of  the  Salt  Lake  water  at  six- 
teen per  cent  solid  matters,  than  at  twenty-two  per 
cent"  as  was  at  that  time  most  commonly  done.  It 
was  pointed  out  however  that  the  lake  was  then  under- 
going a  process  of  rapid  shrinkage,  and  the  inference 
is  plain  that  the  proportion  of  total  solids  was  corres- 
pondingly increasing.  At  the  present  time  (June, 
1900)  the  water  has  not  yet  reached  the  degree  of  rich- 
ness chronicled  by  Dr.  Gale.  It  would  appear  safe  to 
say  that  the  average  of  solid  matter  dissolved  is  about 
twenty-one  per  cent  by  weight  at  present. 


Inasmuch  as  solids  dissolved  in  natural  water  are 
frequently  expressed  in  terms  of  grains  per  gallon,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  transform  some  of  the  foregoing 
readings  into  the  more  common  expressions.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  10  grains  of  solid  matter  to  the 
imperial  gallon  is  the  equivalent  of  .014  per  cent  by 
weight.  The  mean  of  the  writers  analyses  quoted 
above  of  samples  taken  in  December  1885,  (16.7162  per 
cent  solids)  and  in  August  1889,  (19.5576  per  cent) 
is  18.1369  per  cent;  this  corresponds  to  11,777.64  grains 
per  gallon.  For  convenience  of  comparison  these  re- 
sults are  given  below  in  connection  with  the  re- 


58 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 


suits  of  analyses  of  other  waters,  potable  and  mineral, 
from  Utah  and  other  places.  The  gallon  here  referred 
to  is  the  imperial  gallon,  containing  277.27  cubic  inches; 
such  a  measure  of  pure  water  at  the  temperature  of 
62  degrees  F.  weighs  10  pounds  avoirdupois,  or  70,000 


grams.' 


Source. 


Total  Solids 

expressed  in 

grains  per  gallon. 


Authority. 


River  Loka,  Sweden 0.05             Wells. 

Boston,  U.  S.,  Waterworks 1.22             Johnston. 

Loch  Katrine,  Scotland 2.3               Wanklyn. 

Schuylkill  River  at  Philadelphia 4.26             Johnston. 

Detroit  River,  Michigan 5.72                        " 

Ohio  River  at  Cincinnati 6.74 

Loire  at  Orleans 9.38 

Danube,  near  Vienna 9.87                       " 

Lake  Geneva 10.64                       " 

River  Rhine  at  Basel 11.8               Wanklyn. 

Thames  at  London 18.5                         " 

Average  of  12  artesian  wells,  Provo, 

Utah 18.6               J.  E.  Talmage. 

Salt  Lake  City  supply 16.92 

Spring  water,  Provo,  Utah 23.3                          " 

Formation  Springs,  Idaho 27.8 

Octagon   Spring,    at    Soda    Springs, 

Idaho 126.66 

Well  water,  Gunnison,  Utah 148.01 

"Ninety   per   cent    Spring,"    at  Soda 

Springs.  Idaho 198.41 

Warm  Springs,  Spanish  Fork  Canyon, 

Utah 413.72 

Atlantic  Ocean 2,688,00             Wanklyn. 

Salt  Lake 11,777.64             J.  E.  Talmage. 

Dead  Sea 17,064.42 


As  comparisons  between  the  Great  Salt  Lake  and 
the  Dead  Sea  are  common,  the  two  lakes  representing 
the  highest  known  condition  of  natural  concentration 
in  large  water  bodies,  the  content  of  solid  matter  in  the 


*    See  "Domestic  Science,"  by  J.  E.  Talmage,  second  edition,  p.  200 
—201;  George  Q.  Cannon  &  Sons'  Co.,  Salt  Lake  City,  1892. 


THE   LAKE  WATEft.  5§ 

Dead  Sea  water  is  of  interest  in  the  present  connection. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  great  discrep- 
ancy exists  among  published  accounts  of  the  compo- 
sition of  this  water.  Bernan  gives  14,025.48  grains  per 
gallon;  Captain  Lynch  collected  a  sample  at  a  depth 
of  1,110  feet,  and  found  it  to  contain  18,902  grains  per 
gallon.  The  amount  given  in  the  foregoing  statement, 
(17,064.42  grains  per  gallon)  was  determined  by  the 
author  in  a  sample  taken  from  the  Dead  Sea  in  April 
1886,  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Tanner. 


The  composition  of  the  solid  matter  existing  in  the 
lake  water  is  a  subject  of  importance.  Some  results. 
of  analyses  are  here  given: 

Analyses  of  Salt  Lake  water  ,  acids  and  bases  theoretically 
combined;  expressed  in  percentage  of  weight  of 
samples:  — 


Sodium  chloride  

Gale.      Allen. 
1850.        1869. 

..    20.20        11.86 

Bassett. 
1873. 

8.85 
1.09 
1.19 
0.20 

V.89 
0.20 

Talmage. 
1885.           1889. 

13.586        15.743 
1.421          1.050 
1.129         2.011 
0.148         0.279 
0.432         0.474 

Sodium  sulphate       

.      ..      1.83         0.93 

Magnesium  chloride..       

0.25         1.49 

Calcium  sulphate  

0.09 

Potassium  sulphate 

0.53 

Excess  of  chlorine  

Total  .............................    22.28        14.99        13.42        16.716        19.557 

Allen  reports  traces  of  boric  and  phosphoric  acids. 
Lithiais  also  present  in  quantities  sufficient  to  give  the 
spectroscopic  effect  with  little  difficulty. 


60 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 


In  the  analyses  given  on  the  authority  of  the  writer, 
the  data  represent  in  most  instances  averages  of  several 
determinations. 

One  of  the  most  comprehensive  of  the  analyses  pub- 
lished is  that  by  E.  Waller,  giving  the  results  of  ex- 
amination on  a  sample  collected  August  9, 1892.*  The 
report  is  as  follows: 

Analysis  of  a  sample  of  the  water  of  Great  Salt 
Lake  collected  August  9,  1892. 

[Expressed  in  grams  per  litre;  Specific  Gravity,  1.156] 


Elements  and  Radicals. 


Probable  Combination. 


Sodium 75.825 

Potassium 3.925 

Lithium 0.021 

Magnesium 4.844 

Calcium 2.424 

Chlorine 128.278 

Sulphur  trioxide 12.522 

Oxygen  in  sulphates 2.494 

Ferric  oxide  and   (  nnoi 

aluminium  oxide  f  aw* 

Silica 0.018 

Boron  oxide Trace 

Bromine Faint  trace 


Sodium  chloride  NaCl 192.860 

Potassium  sulphate  K2  SO4....  8.756 

Lithium  sulphate,  Li2  SO4 0.166 

Magnesium  chloride,  Mg  C12. .  15.044 
Magnesium  sulphate,  Mg  SO4  5.216 

Calcium  sulphate,  Ca  SO4 8.240 

Ferric  and  aluminium  oxides 


Fe2  O3  +  A12  O3 


-0.004 


-L'  t/2  ^3         "..I  g   *•*!  ?    ) 

Silica,  SiO2 0,018 

Surplus  sulphur  trioxide,  SO3  0.051 

Total 230.355 

Total  solids  by  evaporation.. .238. 12 
Total  solids  [duplicate] 237.925 


The  most  striking  discrepancy  between  the  results 
of  Waller's  analysis  and  those  recorded  in  the  table  on 
page  59,  is  the  absence  of  sodium  sulphate  in  the  list  of 
probable  combinations  presented  by  Waller,  and  the 
presence  of  this  substance  in  every  other  analysis  herein 
recorded.  As  is  generally  understood,  an  ultimate 


*  See  "Sctool  of  Mines  Quarterly"  (Columbia  College,  New  York,) 
vol.  14,  1892.  p.  58.  Quoted  with  approving  comment  by  I.  C.  Russell  in 
"Lakes  of  North  America,"  Boston,  1895,  p.  81. 


THE  LAKE  WATER.  61 

chemical  analysis  gives  the  proportions  of  elements  and 
radicals  present;  the  combinations  of  these  into  definite 
salts,  etc.,  is  attended  with  some  uncertainty  as  to  ac- 
curacy. Waller  has  evidently  combined  all  the  sodium 
with  chlorine,  as  sodium  chloride  or  common "  salt, 
which  certainly  is  the  most  abundant  substance  in  the 
solid  residue  yielded  by  the  lake  water.  Nevertheless 
sodium  sulphate  is  known  to  exist  in  the  lake  brine, 
for,  as  shall  be  hereafter  shown,  a  copious  precipitation 
of  the  sulphate  occurs  whenever  the  water  falls  to  a 
certain  critical  degree  of  low  temperature.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  many  thousands  of  tons  of  the  substance 
are  deposited,  some  of  it  thrown  by  wave  action  upon 
the  shores,  in  the  course  of  every  cold  winter.  And  that 
an  abundant  deposition  of  sodium  sulphate  has  taken 
place  during  a  prior  period  of  lake  history  has  been 
already  affirmed  on  the  conclusive  evidence  afforded  by 
the  thick  bed  of  the  substance  encountered  in  the  driv- 
ing of  piles  at  Saltair  and  Garfield  and  in  the  cutting  of 
canals  on  the  neighboring  shore  lands.  (See  pp.  39, 41) 
Gilbert  estimates  the  quantity  of  sodium  sulphate  con- 
tained in  the  lake  water  at  thirty  millions  of  tons.* 

The  source  of  the  solid  matter  contained  in  natural 
waters  is  found  to  be  the  rock  and  soil  through  which  the 
water  passes,  either  by  downward  percolation  and  flow, 
or  by  upward  passage  under  pressure.  If  such  rocks 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  Monograph  I,  U.  S.  G.  S.,  1890;  p.  253. 


62  THE  GREAT  SALT   LAKH. 

supply  alkaline  chlorides  in  excess,  the  evaporation  of 
the  water  so  charged  will  yield  salt;  if  alkaline  carbon- 
ates be  the  principal  substances  dissolved  out  from  the 
rocks,  alkaline  residues  will  result  from  evaporation. 
It  is  evident  that  the  streams  supplying  Great  Salt  Lake 
have  traversed  salt-bearing  formations. 


The  composition  of  the  waters  flowing  into  the  lake 
presents  itself  as  a  subject  of  interest  in  this  connection. 
The  streams  from  the  Wasatch  and  Uintah  mountains, 
which  constitute  the  greater  part  of  the  lake  supply, 
while  carrying  in  solution  nearly  double  the  quantity 
of  dissolved  solids  usually  present  in  river  water,  (due 
rather  to  the  unusual  evaporation  from  their  surface 
incident  to  the  arid  conditions  than  to  more  active 
solution  from  the  rocks)  give  nevertheless  no  indication 
of  mineral  contents  to  the  taste  or  other  senses.  An- 
alyses of  the  principal  waters  supplying  the  lake  give 
an  average  of  about  0.2446  part  of  dissolved  mineral 
solids  per  thousand. 

Beside  the  rivers  and  creeks  from  the  adjacent 
mountains,  the  lake  has  other  sources  of  supply  from 
fissure  springs,  which  open  at  points  on  the  shore  or  on 
the  bottom.  Few  of  these  springs  are  markedly  saline, 
and  but  one  is  known  to  be  excessively  so.  Their  con- 
tent of  salt  is  probably  derived  from  the  former  sedi- 
ments of  the  region. 


THE  LAKE  WATER.  63 

It  is  estimated  that  the  combined  waters  from  sur- 
face streams  and  springs  would  probably  contain  less 
than  double  the  percentage  of  solids  held  by  the  surface 
streams  alone.  Prof.  Russell's  assumption*  is,  that  on 
the  evidence  now  within  reach,  the  combined  spring 
and  stream  waters  supplying  the  lake  contain  about 
0.3  part  solid  matter  in  a  thousand,  or  three  one- 
hundredths  of  one  per  cent.  Such  a  proportion  of 
mineral  matter,  even  if  wholly  common  salt,  would  not 
reveal  itself  to  the  taste;  and  it  is  safe  therefore  to  con- 
clude that  but  for  the  concentrating  effect  of  evapor- 
ation the  lake  would  belong  to  the  category  of  fresh- 
water bodies. 

The  enormous  quantity  of  saline  matter  held  in  this 
lake  of  brine  affords  a  striking  example  of  the  effect  of 
concentration  long  continued.  As  stated,  few  of  the 
inflowing  streams  are  rich  in  salt.  The  Malad  river  is 
an  exception;  in  its  lower  part  this  stream  becomes 
brackish  from  the  contributions  of  saline  springs. 

The  evaporation,  which  has  been  in  uninterrupted 
progress  for  ages  past,  has  produced  a  nearly  saturated 
brine.  Along  the  lake  margins,  in  partly-isolated  areas, 
the  shallow  water  has  already  begun  to  deposit  salt;  but 
in  the  open  lake  the  water  yet  holds  its  salt  in  perma- 
nent solution.  Russell  records  that  in  1880  the  water 


*  "Lakes  of  North  America,  p."  82, 


64  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

between  Stansbury  Island  and  the  mainland  was  floored 
by  a  glistening  pavement  of  salt,  strong  enough  to  sup- 
port a  horse  and  rider  over  the  greater  part  of  the  area. 
It  is  evident  that  the  Salt  Lake,  while  approaching  a 
degree  of  concentration  equal  to  that  of  1850,  has  not 
yet  become  a  thoroughly  saturated  brine.  Neverthe- 
less, at  low  temperatures  an  abundant  precipitation  of 
sodium  sulphate  occurs,  as  already  stated.  During  the 
winter  season,  as  the  temperature  sinks  below  a  critical 
point,  somewhere  near  the  freezing  point  of  fresh 
water,  the  sulphate  separates  from  the  water  in  the 
crystallized  form  as  Mirabilite.  As  the  separation 
takes  place,  the  lake  water  becomes  opalescent.  Much 
of  the  precipitate  is  heaped  upon  the  shore  by  wave 
action;  and  under  particularly  favorable  conditions  the 
shore  deposit  is  over  a  foot  in  depth.  When  the  water 
is  warmed  to  the  critical  point  of  temperature,  the  crys- 
talline substance  is  rapidly  re-dissolved.  Clusters  of 
large  and  perfectly  formed  crystals  may  be  found  during 
cold  weather  on  the  posts  supporting  the  bath  houses, 
and  on  other  stationary  solid  objects  submerged  in  the 
lake. 

The  analytical  data  given  show  that  the  lake 
water  is  a  concentrated  brine,  with  sodium  chloride 
greatly  predominating,  and  with  magnesium  chloride 
and  sodium  sulphate  existing  also  in  large  proportions. 
Most  of  the  saline  lakes  of  the  Great  Basin  hold  alka- 
line and  earthy  carbonates  in  solution,  and  the  absence 


THE  LAKE  WATEE.  60 

of  such  from  the  Salt  Lake  water  has  been  a  subject  of 
much  comment.  In  this  respect  the  Salt  Lake  com- 
pares closely  with  the  Dead  Sea,  though  widely  differ- 
ing in  other  respects,  notably  in  the  predominance  of 
sodium  over  magnesium  salts.  The  sulphates  delivered 
to  the  lake  by  the  contributing  streams  remain  in  solu- 
tion, except,  as  specified,  at  low  temperatures.  Calcium 
carbonate,  however,  is  precipitated  as  soon  as  the  stream- 
water  which  carries  it  reaches  its  briny  receptacle.  A 
similar  phenomenon  is  observed  in  the  calareous  sedi- 
ments at  the  mouths  of  many  rivers. 

The  calcium  carbonate  which  analysis  proves  to  ex- 
ist in  no  inconsiderable  quantity  in  most  of  the  inflow- 
ing streams,  and  which  diligent  search  has  thus  far 
failed  to  reveal  in  the  lake  water,  is  accounted  for  by 
the  accumulation  of  calcareous  particles  along  portions 
of  the  shore,  particularly  at  the  southern  extremity. 
This  material,  commonly  known  as  oolitic  sand,  is  found 
in  spherules,  ranging  between  the  size  of  No.  10  and 
No.  8  shot.  By  wave  action  it  is  drifted  upon  the 
shore  and  in  some  places  it  constitutes  dunes  several 
yards  in  depth.  The  fact  that  it  is  confined  to  the 
shore  suggests  the  possibility  of  the  rounded  form  being 
the  result  of  rolling.  The  globular  bodies  possess  a 
concentric  structure,  and  in  many  cases  a  nucleus  of 
silica  is  detectable.  Dr.  A.  Eothpletz  has  advanced  the 
theory  that  the  ooliths  of  the  Salt  Lake  are  a  product 
of  the  algae  which  exist  along  the  shores.  He  claims 


66  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

that  the  stones  are  generally  covered  with  colonies  of 
G-laeocapsa  and  Gloeothecae,  which  organisms  are 
known  to  excrete  calcium  carbonate;  and  he  holds  that 
most  of  the  marine  ooliths,  at  least  those  characterized 
by  concentric  and  radial  structure,  are  the  products  of 
lime-excreting  schizophytes.*  Kothpletz's  views  have 
not  been  generally  approved.  While  the  oolitic  sand  is 
the  only  abundant  shore  accumulation  of  calcium 
carbonate,  it  is  probable  that  a  marly  deposit  is  form- 
ing with  other  lake  sediments  in  the  deeper  parts. 


*  Botaniscfces  Centralblatt,  1892,  p.  35. 


VI. 

LIFE   IN    THE    LAKE.* 

The  popular  literature  of  the  day  persists  in  assert- 
ing that  no  living  thing  exists  or  can  exist  in  the  dense 
brine  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  There  is  little  excuse 
for  the  perpetuation  of  such  an  error;  yet  cyclopedias 
and  school  geographies  and  magazines  continue  to  re- 
iterate the  false  statements.  It  is  readily  seen  that  the 
conditions  prevailing  in  the  lake  are  not  favorable  to 
the  existence  of  the  ordinary  aquatic  forms  of  life;  and 
that  cases  of  adaptation  to  life  in  the  brine  would  natur- 
ally be  rare. 

Of  animals  but  few  species  have  been  found  in  the 
lake,  but  of  these  few  two  are  represented  by  swarming 
numbers.  Among  the  animal  forms  already  reported 
as  common  to  the  lake,  the  writer  has  confirmed  the 
presence  of  four: — (1)  Artemia  fertilis,  Verril;  (2)  the 
larvae  of  one  of  the  Tipulidae,  probably  Chironomus 
oceanicus,  Packard;  (3)  a  species  of  Corixa,  probably 
Corixa  decolor,  Uhler;  (4)  larvae  and  pupae  of  a  fly, 
Ephydra  gracilis,  Packard. 

The  larvae  of  the  Ephydra  are  found  in  abundance 
amongst  the  algae  that  strew  the  shores  or  appear  as 
surface  patches  in  the  shallow  parts;  while  the  mature 

*  A  portion  of  the  matter  presented  under  this  sub-title  has  already 
appeared  as  an  article  by  the  writer  in  "The  American  Monthly  Micro- 
scopical Journal,"  vol.  13,  pp.  284-286. 


68  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

insects,  as  small  black  flies,  swarm  along  the  shores  where 
conditions  have  proved  favorable  for  their  develop- 
ment. The  larvae  of  the  tipula  may  be  taken  anywhere 
near  shore  during  the  warm  months;  and  the  pupa  cases 
of  both  species  are  often  washed  ashore  in  great  num- 
bois,  where  they  undergo  decomposition  with  disagree- 
able emanations. 


Of  the  lake  animals,  the  Artemia  fertilis  (or  Arteniia 
gracilis)  commonly  known  as  the  brine  shrimp,  exists 
in  greatest  numbers.  They  are  tiny  crustaceans,  sel- 
dom exceeding  one-third  inch  extreme  length.  They 
may  be  found  in  the  lake  at  all  seasons,  though  they 
are  most  numerous  between  May  and  October.  I  have 
taken  them  in  the  midst  of  winter,  when  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  was  far  below  freezing  point;  it  will  be 
remembered  that  the  concentrated  brine  of  the  lake 
never  freezes.  The  females  greatly  preponderate;  in 
fact,  during  the  colder  months  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  find  a  male.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  r,h<! 
females  are  laden  with  eggs,  from  four  to  sixteen  having 
been  repeatedly  counted  in  the  egg  pouch.  The  males 
are  readily  recognized  by  the  very  large  claspers  upon 
the  head.  (See  plate  XII).  The  shrimps  are  found  near 
shore  during  calm  weather,  but  rain  or  wind  drives 
them  into  the  lake.  At  times  they  congregate  in  such 
numbers  as  to  tint  the  water  over  wide  areas. 


THE  BRINE  SHRIMP.  69 

They  are  capable  of  adapting  themselves  to  great  var- 
iation in  the  composition  of  the  water,  as  must  necessar- 
ily be  the  case  with  any  tenant  of  the  Salt  Lake.  I  have 
specimens  of  the  artemiae  gathered  from  the  lake  in 
September  1892,  and  the  water  then  taken  showed  on  an- 
anlyses,  14,623.23  grains  of  dissolved  solids  to  the  im- 
perial gallon,  the  greater  part  of  this  being  salt.  Indeed, 
I  have  captured  the  creatures  in  the  evaporating  ponds 
of  the  salt  works,  where  the  brine  was  near  its  point 
of  saturation. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  accustom  them  to  a  diluted 
medium;  I  have  kept  them  alive  for  days  in  lake  water 
diluted  with  25,  50,  80  and  90  per  cent  fresh  water,  and 
from  eight  to  eighteen  hours  in  fresh  water  only.  Of 
course  the  changes  from  brine  to-  fresh  water  were 
made  gradually,  though  a  sudden  transfer  from  the 
lake  brine  to  fresh  water  or  even  to  distilled  water  is  not 
followed  by  speedy  death.  On  the  contrary,  the 
creatures  live  for  hours  after  such  sudden  change,  with 
few  signs  of  discomfort  or  inconvenience  except  their 
inability  to  rise  in  the  water  of  low  density. 

The  ability  of  the  shrimps  to  withstand  the  effects  of 
rapid  dilution  of  the  medium  is  surprising  if  we  assume 
that  their  tissues  are  ordinarily  impregnated  with  the 
salt  of  the  lake  brine.  The  violent  osmosis  between 
the  dense  fluids  of  the  tissues  and  the  fresh  water  with- 
out would  appear  to  insure  disruption.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  tissues  do  not  absorb  the  brine  in 


70  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

its  entirety;  indeed,  if  the  shrimps  just  taken  from  the 
lake  be  subjected  to  a  single  quick  rinsing  with  fresh 
water,  they  are  but  slightly  salty  to  the  taste. 

During  a  cruise  upon  the  lake  in  September  1892, 
our  party  found  the  crustaceans  swarming  in  the  open 
water.  When  near  the  middle  of  the  lake,  with  a  small 
tow-net  we  gathered  a  quart  of  the  shrimps  in  the  course 
of  a  few  minutes.  Thereupon  we  resolved  upon  an  ex- 
periment the  subsequent  recital  of  which  has  shocked 
the  gastronomic  sensibilities  of  many  friends.  Reason- 
ing  that  the  bodies  of  the  artemiae  are  composed  largely 
of  chitin,  we  concluded  that  the  question  of  their 
palatability  was  at  least  worthy  of  investigation.  By  a 
simple  rinsing  with  fresh  water  the  excess  of  lake  brine 
was  removed,  after  which  the  shrimps  were  cooked  with 
no  accompaniments  save  a  little  butter  and  a  suggestion 
of  pepper.  They  were  actually  delicious.  If  the 
shrimps  could  be  caught  and  preserved  in  quantity,  I 
doubt  not  they  would  soon  be  classed  as  an  epicurean 
delicacy.  Repeated  washings  for  five  minutes  removed 
the  brine  so  completely  that  salt  had  to  be  added  to 
make  the  dish  palatable. 

As  to  their  food — in  captivity  they  live  upon  meat, 
bread,  or  vegetables,  in  fact  upon  almost  anything  in 
the  nature  of  food;  and  they  are  not  slow  in  attacking 
the  bodies  of  their  own  dead.  In  the  lake  they  proba- 
bly subsist  upon  the  organic  particles  brought  down  by 
rivers,  upon  the  algae  which  flourish  about  the  shores, 


THE  BRINE  SHRIMP.  71 

and  upon  the  larvae  and  pupae  of  the  insects  tenanting 
the  water. 


The  mounting  of  specimens  of  the  brine  shrimp  for 
permanent  microscopical  use  requires  considerable  care 
and  some  modification  of  the  ordinary  procedure.  Most 
of  the  common  mounting  media  cause  the  delicate  struc- 
ture to  become  distorted,  or  produce  such  a  degree  of 
transparency  as  to  render  the  object  invisible.  A 
method  which  has  given  the  writer  good  results  consists 
in  mounting  the  specimen  in  a  preparation  of  lake 
brine  with  corrosive  sublimate  and  an  alcoholic  solution 
of  carbolic  acid.  To  this  fluid,  placed  upon  the  slide, 
the  living  artemia  is  transferred  directly  from  the  lake 
brine;  the  creature  dies  quickly,  and  in  so  doing  spreads 
itself  most  perfectly.  While  objects  so  prepared  are 
of  admirable  arrangement  and  definition  as  temporary 
mounts,  the  structure  is  liable  to  break  down  after  a 
lapse  of  months. 

A  better  permanent  result  may  be  secured  as  follows: 
Place  the  artemiae  inPeryeni's  fluid; they  will  be  quickly 
killed,  and  will  be  hardened  by  the  action  of  the  fluid 
in  from  12  to  20  hours.  They  should  then  be  trans- 
fered  to  alcohol,  the  strength  of  which  should  be  in- 
creased by  degrees,  beginning  with  40  per  cent  and  run- 
ning to  95  per  cent.  The  structure  will  take  some  of  the 
analine  stains  quite  readily;  it  may  then  be  carried 


72  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

through  absolute  alcohol  with  phenol,  then  through 
phenol  and  turpentine,  and  be  permanently  mounted  in 
balsam. 


In  point  of  zoological  classification  it  may  be  said 
that  the  brine  shrimp  is  a  crustacean,  and  is  generally 
referred  to  the  order  Phyllopoda  one  of  the  divisions 
of  the  sub-class  Entomostraca.  In  all  phyllopods  ex- 
cept those  of  the  highest  family  of  the  order,  a  carapax 
covers  the  greater  part  of  the  body.  To  this  highest 
family — the  Branchipodidae  the  artemia  belongs. 

The  Artemia  is  distinguished  from  a  nearly  allied 
form,  the  Branchinecta  in  the  following  particulars: 
Artemia  possesses  eight  abdominal  segments;  the  second 
pair  of  antennae  or  claspers,  which  are  highly  developed 
in  the  male,  are  flat  and  of  triangular  shape  in  the  sec- 
ond joint;  the  ovisac  of  the  female  is  short.  Branchi- 
necta has  nine  segments  composing  the  abdomen;  the 
claspers  are  simple  and  cylindrical;  the  ovisac  is  long 
and  slender. 

Commenting  on  the  structural  and  other  relations 
between  these  two  forms,*  Prof.  J.  S.  Kingsley  says: 
"Under  ordinary  circumstances  these  [differences] 
would  be  considered  as  of  generic  value;  but  what  shall 
we  say  when  we  know  the  results  of  the  observations  and 
experiments  of  the  Russian  naturalist,  Vladimir  Sch- 


*  Riverside  Natural  History,  vol  ii,,  pp.  40-41. 


THE  BRINE  SHRIMP.  73 

wankewitsch?  Condensed  from  his  account  these  were 
as  follows:  In  1871  the  spring  flood  broke  down  the 
barriers  separating  the  two  different  lakes  of  the  salt- 
works near  Odessa,  diluting  the  water  in  the  lower  por- 
tion to  8  degrees  Baume,  and  also  introducing  into  it  a 
large  number  of  the  brine  shrimp,,  Artemia  salina* 
After  the  restoration  of  the  embankment  the  water  rap- 
idly increased  in  density,  until  in  September  1874,  it 
reached  25  degrees  of  Beanie's  scale  and  began  to  de- 
posit salt.  With  this  increase  in  density  a  gradual 
change  was  noticed  in  the  characters  of  the  artemiae, 
until  late  in  the  summer  of  1874,  forms  were  produced 
which  had  all  the  characters  of  a  supposed  distinct 
species,  Artemia  muehlausenii.  The  reverse  experi- 
ment was  then  tried.  A  small  quantity  of  the  water 
was  gradually  diluted,  and  though  conducted  for  only 
a  few  weeks,  a  change  in  the  direction  of  Artemia  salina 
was  very  apparent. 

"Led  by  these  experiments  he  tried  still  others: 
Taking  A rtemia  salina,  which  lives  in  brine  of  moder- 
ate strength,  he  gradually  diluted  the  water,  and  ob- 
tained as  a  result  a  form  which  is  known  as  Bran- 
cfiinecta  skaefferi,  the  last  segment  of  the  abdomen 
having  become  divided  into  two.  NOT  is  this  change 
produced  by  artificial  means  alone.  The  salt  pools 
near  Odessa,  after  a  number  of  years  of  continued  wash- 
ing, became  converted  into  fresh  water  pools,  and  with 
the  gradual  change  in  character,  Artemia  salina  pro- 


74  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

duces  first  a  species  known  as  Branchinecta  spinosus, 
and  at  a  still  lower  density  Branchinecta  fer  ox,  and  an- 
other species  described  as  Branchinecta  medius." 

Observations  on  the  artemiae  of  the  Salt  Lake  under 
conditions  of  slow  increase  or  decrease  of  the  brine  den- 
sity indicate  the"  occurrence  of  changes  in  structure, 
but  no  long  continued  experiments  of  conclusive  re- 
sults have  been  reported. 


The  artemia  is  interesting  to  the  zoologist  as  furnish- 
ing an  example  of  parthenogenesis,  i.  e.,  reproduction 
by  means  of  unfertilized  eggs.  Siebold  of  Munich  has 
investigated  this  subject,  and  he  announces  that  with 
the  entomostracans,  Apus  and  Artemia,  this  partheno- 
genic  reproduction  is  common.  He  reared  several 
broods  composed  entirely  of  females;  yet  from  these, 
eggs  were  produced  which  hatched  vigorous  young. 
Packard  treats  parthenogenesis  as  a  modified  process  of 
reproduction  by  budding. 

The  eggs  of  the  artemia  are  capable  of  sustaining 
long  continued  drought  without  losing  their  vitality. 
Eggs  have  been  sent  in  mud  from  the  Salt  Lake  to 
Munich,  Germany,  where  they  have  been  successfully 
hatched  by  Siebold.  It  would  be  interesting  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  fertilized  eggs  and  those  of  parthen- 
ogenetic  origin  are  of  equal  vitality  under  unfavorable 
conditions.  In  the  light  of  known  facts  concerning 
reproduction  among  other  forms,  it  would  be  reasonable 


THE  BRINE  SHRIMP.  75 

to  expect  that  unfertilized  eggs  would  prove  less  able 
to  withstand  vicissitude. 

The  following  remarks  by  Gilbert*  regarding  the 
brine  shrimp  are  of  interest:  "Packard  ascribes  the 
phenomenal  abundance  of  the  Artemia  to  the  absence 
of  enemies,  for  the  brine  sustains  no  carnivorous  species 
of  any  sort.  The  genus  is  not  known  to  live  in  fresh 
water  or  water  of  feeble  salinity,  but  commonly  makes  its 
appearance  when  feebly  saline  waters  are  concentrated 
by  evaporation.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  a  European 
species  takes  on  the  characters  of  another  genus, 
BrancJiinecta  when  it  is  bred  through  a  series  of  genera- 
tions in  brine  gradually  diluted  to  freshness;  and  con- 
versely, that  it  may  be  derived  from  BrancJiinecta  by 
gradual  increase  in  the  salinity  of  the  medium.  It  is 
found,  moreover,  that  its  eggs  remain  fertile  for  indefi- 
nite periods  in  the  dry  condition,  so  that  whatever  may 
have  been  the  history  of  the  climate  of  the  Bonneville 
Basin,  the  present  occurrence  of  the  Artemia  involves 
no  mystery.  During  the  Bonneville  epoch  its  ancestors 
may  have  lived  in  the  fresh  waters  of  the  basin,  and  dur- 
ing the  epoch  of  extreme  desiccation,  when  the  bed  of 
Great  Salt  Lake  assumed  the  playa  condition,  and  was 
dry  a  portion  of  the  year,  the  persistent  fertility  of  its 
eggs  may  have  preserved  the  race.  Or,  if  the  playa 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  p.  259.  See  also  Twelfth  Annual  Report  U.  S. 
Geol.  and  Geogr.  Survey  of  the  Territories,  1883,  Part  1,  pp.  295-592,  par- 
ticularly pp.  330-334. 


76  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

condition  with  its  concomitant  sedimentation  was  fatal 
to  the  species,  it  may  be  that  the  alternative  fresh  water 
form  survived  in  upper  lakes  and  streams  of  the  basin 
so  as  to  re-stock  the  lower  lake  whenever  it  afforded 
favorable  conditions." 

The  lake  flora  has  received  even  less  attention  than 
has  been  bestowed  upon  its  limited  fauna.  The  exist- 
ence of  plant-life  in  the  water  is  indicated  by  the  abund- 
ance of  animal  life  therein,  and  examination  confirms 
the  inference.  The  shore  waters  show  an  extensive 
vegetable  growth,  principally,  perhaps  entirely,  of  algae. 
A  number  of  species  seem  to  be  indicated  from  the  wide- 
ly varying  colors  of  the  vegetable  masses,  and  three  have 
been  recognized.  Diatoms  have  been  found  in  the 
brackish  waters  of  the  playa-pools  ashore,  and  diatom- 
aceous  deposits  make  up  part  of  the  old  lake  beds. 

Much  has  been  said  at  different  times  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  adapting  fish  to  a  life  in  the  lake.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  experimental  data  it  would  be  rash  to  conjec- 
ture; though  it  would  appear  unlikely  that  fish  could 
thrive  in  such  a  brine.  Yet  the  fear  expressed,  that 
even  if  fish  could  be  accustomed  to  the  lake  water  they 
would  starve  unless  artificially  fed,  is  unfounded,  for  the 
waters  contain  an  abundant  food  supply — crustaceans, 
insect  larvae  and  pupae,  and  algae. 

The  fauna  and  flora  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  are  sub- 
jects inviting  thorough  investigation. 


VII. 

ECONOMIC    IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    LAKE. 

The  composition  of  Salt  Lake  water  is  such  as  to 
warrant  the  assurance  of  the  lake  becoming  a  valuable 
source  of  useful  products.  Indeed  these  briny  waters 
have  already  begun  to  yield  of  their  chemic  riches, 
which,  as  guaged  by  the  standard  of  human  needs,  are 
inexhaustible.  The  most  abundant  solids  dissolved  in  the 
water  are  sodium  chloride  (common  salt,)  magnesium 
chloride,  and  sodium  sulphate.  Of  these  the  first  and  the 
last  named  are  easily  separable. 


The  preparation  of  common  salt  from  the  lake 
water  has  been  carried  on  since  the  early  set- 
tlement of  the  region.  The  salt  first  produced  acquired 
a  bad  reputation  owing  to  its  impurity;  but  this  defect 
was  due  to  carelessness  or  ignorance  in  the  process  of 
manufacture.  The  most  primitive  method  consisted 
in  constructing  low  dikes  along  the  shore;  over  these 
barriers  the  waves  carried  large  quantities  of  brine  dur- 
ing times  of  storms,  and  the  water  thus  imprisoned 
was  allowed  to  evaporate  by  solar  heat  resulting  in  an 
abundant  yield  of  impure  salt.  The  evaporating  pools 
were  in  some  instances  below  the  lake  level,  and  little 
opportunity  was  given  for  the  removal  of  the  mother 


78  THE  GREAT  SALT   LAKE. 

liquors  after  the  crystallization  of  the  salt.  The  brine 
was  allowed  to  evaporate  to  dryness,  or  at  best  the  salt 
deposit  was  gathered  from  the  mother  liquor  with  little 
chance  of  purification,  by  draining.  The  crude  product 
thus  obtained  contained,  of  course,  all  the  impurities 
which  ought  to  have  been  separated  by  the  removal  of 
the  mother  liquor.  In  consequence,  Salt  Lake  salt  was 
in  ill  favor;  it  was  pronounced  unfit  for  dairy  use  be- 
cause it  refused  to  remain  properly  incorporated  with 
the  butter,  some  of  its  ingredients  appearing  as  an 
efflorescence  on  the  surface. 

Prior  to  very  recent  times,  Utah  presented  an  un- 
enviable spectacle  by  importing  salt  into  this,  the  richest 
salt  region  of  earth.  Now,  however,  the  refined  salt  is 
in  demand  as  one  of  the  best  and  purest  products  in  the 
market.  A  number  of  large  salt-works  have  been  estab- 
lished on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  and  the  industry  is  of 
assured  and  increasing  success. 

The  most  important  producers  of  salt  from  the  lake 
have  been,  in  the  order  of  their  successful  operation,  the 
Jeremy  Salt  Co.,  the  Inland  Crystal  Salt  Co.,  and  the  In- 
termountain  Salt  Co.  The  first  named  has  suspended, 
and  the  other  two  are  consolidated  under  the  name,  In- 
land Crystal  Salt  Company.  This  company  is  now 
operating  its  plant  on  a  large  scale,  producing  all  grades 
of  salt  from  the  coarse  product  used  for  metallurgical 
and  packing  purposes,  to  the  finest  table  salt.  Another 
establishment,  the  Saginaw  Salt  Co.,  is  in  business  on 


SALT  FROM   THE  LAKE.  79 

the  east  shore,  in  Davis  county,  but  there  crude  coarse 
salt  only  is  produced. 


The  process  of  manufacture  employed  by  the  Inland 
Crystal  Salt  Company  is  thoroughly  efficacious  and  sat- 
isfactory; and  as  it  represents  the  highest  attainment  in 
salt  manufacture  from  natural  brine  here  or  elsewhere, 
and  at  the  same  time  demonstrates  the  profits  of  this 
important  industry  in  this  region,  it  merits  attention. 

The  lake  brine  is  lifted  by  means  of  centrifugal 
pumps  to  a  height  of  fourteen  feet  above  lake  level;  it  is 
then  conveyed  through  flumes  to  the  settling  and  evap- 
orating ponds  which  are  situated  from  one  to  two  miles 
inland.  The  ponds  cover  about  fourteen  hundred 
acres  of  land,  not  all  of  which,  however  is  in  use  every 
season.  The  pumps  pour  into  the  flumes  about  fourteen 
thousand  gallons  of  brine  per  minute,  and  are  kept  in 
operation  about  ten  hours  daily  during  the  pumping 
season  of  about  150  days  beginning  usually  in  March. 
By  the  time  the  ponds  have  been  filled  the  evaporating 
season  is  well  advanced,  and  about  the  same  supply  of 
water  is  required  during  the  warmer  months  to  main- 
tain a  constant  level.  No  accurate  record  of  pumping 
hours  is  kept  at  the  plant,  the  work  being  regulated 
so  as  to  maintain  the  level  of  the  brine  in  the  ponds. 
Long  continued  rains,  which,  however,  are  of  rare  oc- 
currence except  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  cause  a 


80  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

In  the  ponds,  and  at  times  nec^akate    the  return  of 
part  of  the  brine  to  the  lake  to  prevent  overflow. 

A  portion  of  the  pond  area  is  used  as  a  settling 
basin  wherein  the  water  deposits  its  suspended  matters; 
thence  is  is  conveyed  to  the  evaporating  ponds 
proper.  The  evaporation  is  accomplished  by  solar  heat 
alone.  The  season  lasts  about  four  months  during 
which  a  layer  of  salt  with  an  average  depth  of  six  incher 
deposits.  This  affords  a  practical  yield  of  about  90U 
tons  to  the  acre,  or  at  the  rate  of  150  tons  per  inch 
depth  per  acre.  The  saline  mud  forming  the  pond 
floor  is  practically  water-tight. 

About  one-tenth  of  the  amount  of  brine  carried  to  the 
ponds  is  returned  to  the  lake  as  a  mother-liquor  after 
the  deposition  of  the  crystals.  This  frees  the  salt  from 
most  of  the  magnesium,  compounds,  and  from  sodium 
sulphate;  it  will  be  remembered  that  these  were  the 
substances  which  rendered  the  product  of  the  more 
primitive  methods  unfit  for  use. 

The  salt  harvest  begins  in  late  August  or  early 
September.  Movable  rails  are  laid  into  the  ponds,  and 
the  crop  is  gathered  into  hand  cars.  The  material 
is  then  piled  in  symmetrically  shaped  heaps,  and,  as 
required  is  conveyed  to  the  refinery  or  to  the  railway 
for  shipment  as  crude  salt. 

With  the  entire  pond  area  in  service  a  yearly  crop  of 
over  a  million  tons  is  possible.  For  such  a  supply  there 


SALT  FROM  THE  LAKE.  81 

has  been  as  yet  no  adequate  demand,  and  the  richest 
harvest  reported  for  any  year  is  150,000  tons. 

The  manager  of  the  plant  reports  on  cost  of  produc- 
tion as  follows:  "Common  labor  is  paid  for  at  a  rate 
ranging  from  $1.50  to  $2.00  per  day.  The  expense 
of  manufacture  is  the  cost  of  pumping  the  brine  from 
the  lake  to  the  harvesting  ponds,  which,  estimating  in- 
terest on  cost  of  apparatus  for  pumping,  flumes,  ponds, 
etc.,  is  as  near  as  can  be  estimated  50  cents  per  ton.  In 
addition  to  the  foregoing  the  salt  after  depositing 
must  be  harvested  and  piled,  which,  under  contract  costs 
25  cents  per  ton.  The  coarse  salt  is  sold  on  the  cars  at 
the  works  at  a  dollar  per  ton." 


The  refining  process  may  be  summarized  under  the 
follow  operations:  — 

(1.)  The  crude  salt  is  run  through  a  Hersey  dry- 
ing cylinder,  heated  by  steam. 

(2.)  The  dried  salt  is  subjected  to  fan  action, 
whereby  the  fine  powder,  which  includes  practically  all 
the  objectionable  sodium  sulphate,  is  removed. 

(3.)  The  granular  salt  is  then  ground  to  the  vary- 
ing degrees  of  fineness  required  for  dairy  salt,  table 
salt,  etc. 

The  lake  salt  so  prepared  is  of  a  particularly  high 
grade  of  purity;  indeed,  it  challenges  comparison  with 
commercial  salt  from  any  other  source.  The  company 


82 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 


reports  analyses  showing  for  the  lower  grades  98  per 
cent  and  for  the  better  kinds  99  per  cent  sodium  chlor- 
ide. Analyses  made  by  the  writer  a  few  years  ago 
showed  the  following  composition  of  samples  procured 
by  purchase  in  the  retail  market: 


Eeflned  salt 
made  by  the  In- 
land Salt  Co. 
1889. 

Sodium  chloride 98.407* 

Calcium  chloride 371 

Calcium  sulphate 650 

Magnesium  sulphate..      .030 

Moisture 442 

Insoluble  matters 102 

Loss  and  error 


100.002 


Table  salt 

Coarse  salt 

Table  salt 

Inland  Salt 
Company. 

Jeremy  Salt 
Company. 

Jeremy  Salt 
Company. 

98.121* 

98.101* 

98.300* 

.311 

.322 

.345 

.422 

.364 

.680 

.022 

.021 

.042 

.911 

.952 

.158 

.201 

'    .214 

.472 

.012 

.026 

.003 

100.000 


100.000 


100.000 


The  powder  separated  by  fanning  after  the  drjdng 
process  affords  material  for  a  valuable  by-product.  This 
powder  consisting  mostly  of  fine  salt  mixed  with  sodium 
sulphate,  is  worked  up  with  sulphur  and  is  molded  into 
large  blocks  for  use  on  cattle  and  stock  ranges.  The 
demand  for  this  "cattle-salt"  is  said  to  be  greater  than 
the  supply  from  the  fan-powder  alone. 


Common  salt  is  practically  the  only  chemical  com- 
pound derived  from  the  lake  on  a  commercial  scale, 
though  the  possibility  of  obtaining  cheaply  from  the 
brine  an  extensive  array  of  chemical  products  is  readily 
apparent.  In  the  statement  of  the  composition  of  lake 
water  before  given  (see  page  59)  the  presence  of  sodium 
sulphate  is  shown.  This  substance  in  a  prepared  state 


GLAUBER-SALT  FROM  THE  LAKE.  83 

is  known  as  Glauber-salt;  as  a  naturally-occurring  min- 
eral it  is  called  Mirabilite. 

The  deposition  of  glauber-salt  from  the  brine  has 
been  mentioned  as  a  regular  winter  occurrence.  The 
substance  separates  in  the  crystalline  condition,  and 
even  as  found  upon  the  shores  where  it  has  been  heaped 
by  the  waves,  it  is  of  a  remarkable  degree  of  purity. 
Very  pure  samples  may  be  broken  off  as  crystalline  ag- 
gregates from  any  submerged  support.  The  following 
figures  represent  the  averages  of  the  writer's  analyses 
on  a  number  of  samples  collected  from  opposite  sides 
of  the  lake: 


Sodium  sulphate  

1. 
East  shore 
deposit. 

43.060 

2. 
West  shore 
deposit. 

42.325 

Sodium  chloride  

.699 

.631 

Calcium  sulphate 

437 

267 

Magnesium  sulphate  

.025 

.018 

Water 

55070 

55  760 

Insoluble  matters  

.700 

.756 

Loss  and  error 

009 

243 

100.000 

100.000 

For  purposes  of  comparison  it  should  be  known  that 
chemically  pure  Mirabilite  consists  of  anhydrous  sodium 
sulphate,  44.1  per  cent,  water,  55.9  per  cent. 

When  the  temperature  falls  to  the  critical  point  the 
lake-water  rapidly  assumes  an  opalescent  appearance 
from  the  separation  of  the  sulphate.  The  substance 
sinks  as  a  crystalline  precipitate,  and  large  quantities  are 
thrown  by  the  waves  upon  the  beach.  Under  favorable 
conditions  the  shore  may  be  covered  to  a  depth  of 


84  THE  GREAT  SALT   LAKE. 

several  feet  with  crystallized  mirabilite.  On  several 
occasions  the  writer  has  waded  through  the  crystalline 
deposit  sinking  at  every  step  to  the  knees. 

The  substance  must  be  gathered,  if  at  all,  soon  after 
the  deposit  first  appears;  for  if  the  water  reach  the 
critical  temperature  on  the  ascending  scale,  the  whole 
deposit  is  again  taken  into  solution.  The  re-solution 
is  a  rapid  process,  a  single  day  sometimes  sufficing 
for  the  complete  disappearance  of  all  the  deposit  within 
reach  of  the  waves.  Warned  by  experience,  the  col- 
lectors heap  the  stuff  upon  the  shores  above  the  lap  of 
the  waves;  in  this  situation  it  is  comparatively  secure. 
The  work  is  easily  accomplished  by  the  use  of  horse- 
drags  and  scrapers.  Large  quantities  of  the  mirabilite 
are  yet  to  be  seen  in  heaps — remaining  from  the  harvest- 
ing of  years  ago.  To  a  depth  of  a  few  inches  the  ma- 
terial effloresces,  but  within  the  heaps  the  hydrous  crys- 
talline condition  is  maintained. 

The  temperature  at  which  the  mirabilite  separates 
has  not  been  accurately  determined.  That  we  are  con- 
cerned with  but  a  small  range  of  temperature  is  evident 
from  the  sudden  appearance  and  disappearance  of  the 
solid  precipitate  as  the  temperature  varies.  Gilbert  says* 
that  the  precipitation  begins  when  the  water  falls  below 
20  degrees  F.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  critical 
temperature  is  higher  than  this. 

*  "LakeBonneville,"p.  253. 


GLAUBER-SALT   FROM  THE  LAKE.  85 

I  camped  with  a  party  by  the  lake  shore  in  the  early 
days  of  January  1895,  with  the  main  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  temperature  of  the  mirabilite  separation; but 
the  weather,  which  for  days  prior  to  our  visit  had  been 
cold,  moderated  and  soon  grew  unusually  warm.  The 
following  observations  are  incorporated  for  illustration: 
January  3,  11  a.  m.,  temperature  of  water  off  pier  as 
determined  by  five  thermometers,  35.8  degrees  F.;  tem- 
perature of  air  in  neighborhood,  41  degrees  F.;  during  a 
period  of  two  hours  the  temperature  of  the  water  as  indi- 
cated by  self-registering  instruments,  reached  a  mini- 
mum of  35.5  degrees  F.;  yet  the  sulphate  was  then  sep- 
arating and  crystals  were  readily  obtained  by  dredging. 
On  the  same  day  crystals  of  mirabilite  formed  on  the 
cord  attached  to  the  submerged  self-registering  ther- 
mometer when  the  instrument  recorded  35  degrees  F. 
At  the  same  time  large  clusters  of  well-formed  crystals 
were  taken  from  the  pavilion  posts.  During  the  night 
of  January  3-4,  the  mirabilite  crystals  attached  to  the 
pier  were  partly  dissolved;  the  temperature  readings 
recorded  were,  maximum  37.5  degrees  F.,  minimum  35 
degrees  F.  I  believe  the  critical  temperature  of  the 
separation  to  be  within  a  few  degrees  of  the  freezing 
point  of  fresh  water. 

At  present  there  is  no  demand  for  the  mirabilite, 
and  no  effort  is  made  to  gather  it.  Should  use  be  found 
for  it  however,  no  fears  as  to  possible  insufficiency  of  sup- 
ply need  be  entertained.  Even  though  the  enormous 
amounts  cast  up  by  the  waves  during  the  winter 


86  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

months  prove  insufficient,  the  shallow  water  near  shore 
could  be  dredged  with  profit;  and  should  this  fail,  re- 
course may  be  had  to  the  bed  of  the  material  already 
stored  at  a  moderate  depth  beneath  the  lake  bottom, 
and  below  the  recently  abandoned  bottom  now  inshore. 

The  manufacture  of  sodium  carbonate  from  the 
mirabilite  would  seemingly  promise  rich  returns.  In 
the  time-honored  and  efficient  Le  Blanc  process  of  car- 
bonate preparation,  sodium  sulphate  is  first  produced 
from  common  salt  by  an  expensive  treatment  with  sul- 
puric  acid.  That  stage  of  the  operation  is  accom- 
plished by  Nature  in  the  lake  and  the  sulphate  is  thrown 
up  in  lavish  quantities  in  a  manner  favorable  for  easy 
collection.  The  limestone  and  the  coal  required  for 
the  conversion  of  the  sulphate  into  carbonate  are  cheap 
and  of  ready  access  in  the  region;  and  in  the  sodium 
carbonate  market  Utah  ought  to  be  able  to  undersell 
most  other  producers. 

Years  ago  a  sodium  carbonate  plant  was  established 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  an  excellent  product  was  ob- 
tained. Caustic  soda  and  sodium  hyposulphite  have  also 
been  prepared  from  the  lake  water.  But  the  high 
cost  of  railway  transportation  has  killed  this  in  com- 
mon with  many  other  industrial  undertakings  in  this 
naturally  favored  region.  Sooner  or  later,  however, 
a  market  is  sure  to  be  found,  and  the  briny  waters  of 
Utah's  Dead  Sea  shall  then  yield  their  riches  to  the 
hand  of  chemic  industry. 


VIII. 

THE    GREAT    BASIN. 

Great  Salt  Lake  has  been  mentioned  as  the  largest 
water  body  existing  in  the  Great  Basin  region,  and  inci- 
dentally the  Great  Basin  has  been  otherwise  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  pages.  A  brief  consideration  of  geo- 
graphical basins  in  general,  and  of  the  Great  Basin  in 
particular  may  prove  of  interest. 

The  term"  basin"is  employed  by  the  student  of  earth- 
science  to  designate  the  area  comprised  in  a  drainage 
system,  or  that  which  forms  a  local  unit  of  drainage  as 
a  distinct  part  of  a  drainage  system.  Thus  the  terms 
"basin"  and  "drainage  area"  or  "drainage  district"  are 
seen  to  be  practically  synonymous.  A  lake  basin  is  a  de- 
pression in  the  crust  occupied  by  the  waters  of  a  lake, 
and  the  expression  "hydro graphic  basin"  is  applied  to 
the  region  drained  by  a  river  and  its  tributaries,  includ- 
ing the  lake,  if  there  be  such,  in  which  the  waters  collect. 

In  the  case  of  rivers  emptying  into  a  lake,  if  the 
latter  have  an  outlet  the  out-flowing  stream  and  the 
region  drained  by  it  below  the  lake  will  be  included  in 
the  hydrographic  basin,  and  if  the  river  reach  the  sea 
the  drainage  basin  will  extend  to  the  shore.  If  how- 
ever, the  lake  be  without  an  outlet,  as  long  as  the  loss  of 
water  by  evaporation  be  equal  to  or  less  than  the  amount 
received,  so  that  the  lake  cannot  rise  and  find  an  out- 


88  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

let,  the  hydrographic  basin  is  spoken  of  as  a  closed, 
an  interior,  or  a  drainless  basin. 

The  largest  closed  drainage  area  in  North  America  is 
the  Great  Basin  now  under  consideration.  The  region 
to  which  this  name  is  applied  is  of  outline  roughly  tri- 
angular as  indicated  on  the  map.  (See  plate  XIV).  It 
extends  about  880  miles  in  greatest  length  running 
east  of  south  and  west  of  north,  and  572  miles  in  ex- 
treme width  from  east  to  west.  The  area  thus  in- 
cluded is  about  210,000  square  miles,  comprising  the 
western  half  of  Utah,  the  greater  part  of  Nevada,  and 
portions  of  eastern  California,  south-eastern  Oregon, 
south-eastern  Idaho,  and  south-western  Wyoming.  The 
southern  part  of  the  Great  Basin  has  not  been  definitely 
serveyed;  its  approximate  outline  is  indicated  by  a 
dotted  line  on  the  map. 

The  name  "basin"  suggests  the  typical  form  of  a 
depression  with  a  well-defined  rim,  and  drainage  basins 
are  actually  walled  in  by  water-partings,  which  however 
may  not  be  of  conspicuous  height.  But  the  Great 
Basin  is  no  such  single  depression,  nor  is  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  region  suggestive  of  the  basin  structure. 
The  area  is  characteristically  mountainous,  presenting 
a  great  number  of  depressions,  many  of  them  occupied 
by  lakes;  yet  the  region  is  a  unit  from  the  standpoint 
of  drainage,  for  it  sends  no  stream  beyond  its  borders, 
and  the  removal  of  water  from  the  surface  is  wholly  due 
to  evaporation.  The  central  part  is  elevated  above  the 


THE  GREAT  BASIN.  89 

marginal  portions,  as  was  shown  by  the  geologists  of  the 
Fortieth  Parallel  Exploration.  Summarizing  part  of  the- 
excellent  work  done  by  these  geologists,  Gilbert  says: 

"The  work  of  this  corps  covered  a  belt  one  hundred 
miles  broad,  spanning  the  Great  Basin  in  its  broadest 
part,  and  within  this  belt  the  Pleistocene  lakes  were 
studied,  and  for  the  first  time  approximately  mapped. 
It  was  shown  that  the  corrugated  surface  of  the  Great 
Basin  in  this  latitude  is  higher  in  the  middle  than  at  the 
east  and  west  margins,  warranting  general  subdivision 
into  the  Utah  Basin,  the  Nevada  Plateau,  and  the  Ne- 
vada Basin;  that  the  Utah  Basin  formerly  contained  a 
large  lake,  Bonneville,  extending  both  north  and  south 
beyond  the  belt  of  survey;  that  the  Nevada  Basin  con- 
tained a  similar  lake,  Lahontan,  likewise  exceeding  the 
limits  of  the  belt;  and  that  the  valleys  of  the  central 
plateau  held  within  the  belt  no  less  than  eight  small 
Pleistocene  lakes."* 

Captain  Bonneville  explored  part  of  the  Great  Basin 
area  in  1833,  and  his  map,  while  necessarily  crude  and 
unreliable  as  to  detail,  suggests  the  existing  conditions 
of  interior  drainage.  To  Fremont,  f  however,  belongs 
the  credit  of  having  first  clearly  shown  the  true  char- 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  by  G.  K.  Gilbert,  p,  17.  For  citations  made 
above  see  Geological  Exploration  of  the  40th  Parallel ;  Vols.  I  and  II. 
Washington,  1877,  1878. 

t  "Report  of  the  Exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the 
year  1842,"  etc.,  by  Brevet-Captain  J.  C.  Fremont.    Washington,  1845. 


90  THE  GREAT  SALT   LAKE. 

acter  of  the  region  with   respect  to  drainage,  and  by 
him  the  name  "Great  Basin"  was  first  applied. 

Our  present  knowledge  of  the  Basin  region  rests  on 
the  work  of  Fremont  just  cited,  and  that  of  Stansbury 
in  1850,  Simpson  in  1859,  the  parties  in  charge  of  the 
40th  Parallel  Survey  and  the  Survey  West  of  the  100th 
Meridian,  and  the  labors  of  the  Great  Basin  division  of 
the  TL  S.  Geological  Survey  as  at  present  constituted. 


A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that  the  closed  area  of 
the  Basin  is  bounded  by  the  drainage  district  of  the 
Columbia  river  on  the  north,  by  Colorado  river  drainage 
on  the  east,  and  by  Pacific  drainage  on  the  west.  While 
this  is  by  far  the  largest  closed  drainage  basin  in  North 
America,  eight  times  greater  indeed  than  the  estimated 
area  of  all  other  closed  basins  of  the  United  States  com- 
bined, it  must  be  remembered  that  "North  America  as 
compared  with  other  continents  is  not  characterized  by 
interior  drainage.  According  to  data  compiled  by 
Murray,  the  closed  basins  in  Australia  aggregate  52  per 
cent  of  its  area,  those  of  Africa  31  per  cent,  of  Eurasia 
28  per  cent,  of  South  America  7.2  per  cent,  of  North 
America  3.2  per  cent.  The  Great  Basin  is  great  only 
in  comparison  with  similar  districts  of  our  own  conti- 
nent. The  interior  district  of  the  Argentine  Eepublic 
is  half  as  large  again,  and  that  of  central  Australia  ex- 
ceeds the  Great  Basin  seven  times.  Sahara  exceeds 


THE  GREAT  BASIN".  91 

it  sixteen  times,,  and  the  interior  district  of  Asia  twenty- 
three  times."* 


Most  of  the  existing  lakes  within  the  Basin  area  are 
alkaline  or  salt;  though  a  few  having  outlets  to  lower 
levels  are  fresh.  Among  the  fresh  water-bodies  are 
Utah  Lake,  which  sends  the  Jordan  River  to  Great  Salt 
Lake;  Bear  Lake  discharging  through  Bear  River  into 
Salt  Lake,  and  Lake  Tahoe,  the  "gem  of  the  Sierras," 
which  overflows  through  Truckee  canyon  into  Pyramid 
and  Winnemucca  lakes,  2,400  feet  below.  Among  the 
salt  and  alkaline  lakes  of  the  Basin  are  Great  Salt  Lake 
and  Sevier  Lake  in  Utah;  Soda,  Walker,  Winnemucca, 
and  Pyramid  Lakes  in  Nevada;  Albert  Lake,  Oregon. 
Mono  Lake  and  Owen's  Lake,  California. 

The  term  "saline  lakes"  is  used  in  a-  generic  sense 
and  includes  both  salt  and  alkaline  lakes.  There  are 
two  principal  ways  by  which  saline  lakes  may  be 
formed: —  (1.)  By  the  isolation  of  a  part  of  the  sea, 
as  for  example  by  the  cutting  off  of  bays,  or  by  the  ele- 
vation of  a  portion  of  the  ocean  floor,  carrying  up  sea- 
water  in  the  depressions.  (2.)  By  the  accumulation  of 
river  or  spring  water  in  depressions  without  outlet, 
with  concentration  of  the  water  by  evaporation.  Lakes 
resulting  from  the  first  process  may  be  said  to  be  of 


*  "Lake  Bonneville;"  p.  12.    For  citations  from  Murray  see  Scot- 
tish Geog.  Mag.  vol.  Ill,  pp.  65-77. 


92  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

oceanic  origin;  then  those  of  the  other  class  are  of 
terrestrial  origin. 

Saline  lakes  of  oceanic  origin  are  of  necessity  salt; 
those  of  the  terrestrial  type  are  salt  or  alkaline  accord- 
ing to  the  predominating  minerals  washed  from  the 
rocks  and  accumulated  by  evaporation.  Alkaline  chlo- 
rides produce  salt  lakes,  and  alkaline  carbonates  result 
in  alkaline  lakes.  Alkaline  lakes  are  relatively  rare, 
though  notable  occurrences  of  the  sort  characterize  the 
Great  Basin.  The  California  lakes,  Mono  and  Owen, 
are  perhaps  the  best  examples;  they  both  contain  con- 
siderable quantities  of  sodium  carbonate  together  with 
other  carbonates  and  some  salt.  Borax  lakes  also  occur 
in  California  and  Nevada. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  dissolved 
solids,  the  lake  will  not  become  saline  unless  it  is  entire- 
ly enclosed,  so  that  its  loss  of  water  by  evaporation 
exceeds  its  supply.  Should  the  water  supply  of  a  saline 
lake  increase,  as  by  climatic  changes,  the  lake  will  rise, 
and  if  the  process  continue  will  find  an  outlet  and  in 
time  be  rinsed  out,  thus  becoming  a  fresh-water  body. 

The  aridity  of  the  Great  Basin  is  a  matter  of  gen- 
eral knowledge.  The  subject  is  thus  stated  by  com- 
parison and  estimate  by  Gilbert: — *  "On  the  broad 
plain  bounded  east  and  west  by  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains and  the  Mississippi  River,  43  inches  of  rain  falls 
in  a  year.  On  the  lowlands  of  the  Great  Basin  there 

*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  p.  6-7. 


THE  GREAT  BASIN.  93 

falls  but  7  inches.  In  the  former  region  the  average 
moisture  content  of  the  air  is  69  per  cent  of  that  neces- 
sary for  saturation;  in  the  lowlands  of  the  Great  Basin 
it  is  45  per  cent.  From  the  surface  of  Lake  Michigan 
evaporation  removes  each  year  a  layer  of  water  22 
inches  deep.  The  writer  has  estimated  that  80  inches 
are  yearly  thus  removed  from  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Russell  has  computed  from  annual  means  of 
temperature,  vapor  tension,  and  wind  velocity,  that  in 
the  lowlands  of  the  Great  Basin  the  annual  rate  of  evap- 
oration from  water  surfaces  ranges  from  60  inches  at 
the  north  to  150  inches  at  the  south." 


No  sketch  of  the  Great  Basin  would  be  complete 
without  some  reference  to  the  peculiar  mountain  struc- 
ture of  the  region.  Geographical  maps  show  that  the 
mountainous  character  predominates  from  the  Wasatch 
to  the  Sierra.  The  ranges  within  the  Basin  are  short, 
and  strikingly  uniform  in  their  general  trend  north  and 
south.  The  structure  of  these  mountain  ranges  is  so 
different  from  the  usual  order,  and  so  characteristic  of 
this  particular  region,  that  mountains  of  the  kind 
wherever  found  are  to  be  classed  as  belonging  to  the 
Basin  Eange  type. 

Ordinary  mountain  ranges  consist  essentially  of 
stratified  rocks,  the  strata  of  which  have  been  crushed 
and  crumpled  by  lateral  pressure,  so  as  to  appear  in  sec- 


94  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

tion  as  complicated  folds.  Anticlinal  arches  and 
synclinal  troughs  follow  each  other  in  close  or  more 
open  folds  according  to  the  degree  of  compression.  Such 
mountain  ranges  were  originally  sea  sediments,  and  their 
situation  marks  old  marginal  sea-bottoms.  This,  the 
common  mountain  structure,  is  spoken  of  as  the  anticli- 
nal type. 

But  the  Basin  ranges  are  of  monoclinal  structure, 
— as  if  great  crust  blocks  had  been  tilted  on  edge.  One 
face  of  a  mononclinal  ridge  is  relatively  steep,it  is  in  fact 
the  rough  face  of  the  crust  block  which  has  been 
broken  by  faulting;  the  other  slope  is  gentler,  following 
in  general  the  dip  of  the  upturned  beds.  Mononclinal 
mountain  masses  result  from  tension  by  which  the  crust 
is  broken  up  into  great  blocks. 

Of  the  origin  of  the  Basin  ranges,  and  of  the  "Wa- 
satch  and  Sierra  mountains  which  virtually  form  the 
walls  of  the  Basin,  Le  Conte*  writes:  "The  Sierra  re- 
ceived its  present  form  and  altitude  by  the  upheaving 
on  its  eastern  side  of  a  great  mountain  block — 300  miles 
long  and  50  to  70  miles  wide — forming  there  a  normal 
fault,  with  a  displacement  of  probably  not  less  than 
15,000  feet.  *  *  *  On  the  other  boundary  of  the 
Basin  region  the  Wasatch  was  at  the  same  time  also 
heaved  up  on  its  western  side,  forming  there  one  of  the 


*Elements  of  Geology,  4th  ed.,  p.  277.  See  also  American  Journal  of 
Science,  Vol.  33,  p.  262  for  an  article  by  the  same  author. 


THE  GREAT  BASIN.  95 

greatest  faults  known.  [40,000  feet  displacement  ac- 
cording to  King.]  *  *  *  The  whole  Basin  region, 
including  the  Sierra  on  one  side  and  the  Wasatch  on  the 
other,  was  lifted,  probably  by  intumescent  lavas,  into  an 
arch,  and  by  tension  split  into  great  oblong  crust  blocks. 
The  arch  broke  down,  the  crust  blocks  re-adjusted  them- 
selves to  form  the  Basin  ranges,  and  left  the  abutments, 
viz,  the  Sierra  and  the  Wasatch,  with  their  raw  faces 
looking  toward  one  another  across  the  intervening  Basin. 
It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  this  took  place 
at  once  as  a  great  cataclysm,  but  rather  that  it  took  place 
very  slowly — the  lifting,  the  breaking  down,  and  the  re- 
adjustment, all  going  on  at  the  same  time." 

In  some  of  the  depressions  between  these  displaced 
crust  blocks  water  has  accumulated  and  thus  have  the 
lakes  of  the  Great  Basin  been  formed.  Other  depres- 
sions, the  receptacles  of  but  limited  drainage  may  hold 
water  for  a  short  period  only  immediately  after  a  rainy 
season  or  following  the  heavy  storms  known  as  cloud- 
bursts; such  ephemeral  water  bodies  are  called  playa- 
lakes. 


IX. 

THE  ANCIENT    LAKE-LAKE  BONNEVILLE. 

That  the  Great  Salt  Lake  is  a  remnant  of  a  larger 
body  of  water  which  once  filled  the  entire  valley 
and  extended  beyond  the  valley  walls  to  the  north, 
south,  and  west,  is  apparent  to  even  the  unscientific  ob- 
server. Yet  our  knowledge  of  this  ancient  water  body 
has  been  accumulated  but  gradually,  and  many  investi- 
gators and  observers  have  contributed  thereto. 

Capt.  Fremont  in  1842  recorded  the  occurrence  of  a 
line  of  drift-wood  observed  by  him  a  few  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  existing  lake;  and  in  this  he  read  the  indi- 
cations of  variation  in  level  at  that  time  recent,  but  he 
made  no  record  of  the  grander  phenomena  of  ancient 
shore  lines  on  the  adjacent  mountains. 

Capt.  Howard  Stansbury,  whose  valuable  labors  in 
connection  with  the  survey  of  Great  Salt  Lake  in  1849- 
1850,  have  been  mentioned,  observed  the  lines  of  early 
shore  action,  and  inferred  therefrom  the  former  exist- 
ence of  a  great  lake  or  sea.  Keferring  to  a  particular 
plain  near  Lakeside  on  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
railway,  he  wrote: 

"This  extensive  flat  appears  to  have  formed  at  one 
time  the  northern  portion  of  the  lake,  for  it  is  now  but 
slightly  above  its  present  level.  Upon  the  slope  of  a 
ridge  connected  with  this  plain,  thirteen  distinct  succes- 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  97 

sive  benches,  or  water  marks,  were  counted,  which  had 
evidently  at  one  time  been  washed  by  the  lake,  and  must 
have  been  the  result  of  its  action  continued  for  some 
time  at  each  level.  The  highest  of  these  is  now  about 
two  hundred  feet  above  the  valley  which  has  itself  been 
left  by  the  lake,  owing  probably  to  gradual  elevation 
occasioned  by  subterraneous  causes.  If  this  supposition 
be  correct,  and  all  appearances  conspire  to  support  it, 
there  must  have  been  here  at  some  former  period  a  vast 
inland  sea,  extending  for  hundreds  of  miles;  and  the  iso- 
lated mountains  which  now  tower  from  the  flats,f  orming 
its  western  and  southwestern  shores,  were  doubtless  huge 
islands  similar  to  those  which  now  rise  from  the  dimin- 
ished waters  of  the  lake."* 

In  1852  Lieut.  E.  G.  Beckwith  visited  portions  of 
the  Great  Basin  in  charge  of  a  government  expedition. 
He  was  impressed  by  the  distinctness  of  the  old  beach 
lines,  and  correctly  concluded  that  the  Salt  Lake  had 
stood  at  a  higher  level.  He  says: 

"The  old  shore  lines  existing  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Great  Salt  Lake  present  an  interesting  study.  Some 
of  them  are  elevated  but  a  few  feet  (from  five  to  twenty) 
above  the  present  level  of  the  lake,  and  are  as  distinct 
and  as  well  defined  and  preserved  as  its  present  beaches; 
and  Stansbury  speaks,  in  the  Eeport  of  his  exploration, 
pages  158,  160,  of  drift  wood  still  existing  upon  those 

*  "Exploration  and  Survey  of  the  Valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  of 
Utah, "etc.,  by  Howard  Stansbury.  Philadelphia,  1852,  p.  105. 


98  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

having  an  elevation  of  five  feet  above  the  lake,  which 
unmistakably  indicates  the  remarkably  recent  recession 
of  the  waters  which  formed  them,  whilst  their  magni- 
tude and  smoothly-worn  forms  as  unmistakably  indi- 
cate the  levels  which  the  waters  maintained,  at  their 
respective  formations  for  very  considerable  periods. 

"In  the  Tuilla  [Tooele]  Valley  at  the  south  end  of 
the  lake,  they  are  so  remarkably  distinct  and  peculiar  in 
form  and  position  that  one  of  them,  on  which  we  trav- 
eled in  crossing  that  valley  on  the  7th  of  May,  attracted 
the  observation  of  the  least  informed  teamsters  of  our 
party — to  whom  it  appeared  artificial.  Its  elevation  we 
judged  to  be  twenty  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the 
lake.  It  is  also  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  above  the  plain  to 
the  south  of  it,  and  is  several  miles  long;  but  it  is  nar- 
row, only  affording  a  fine  road-way,  and  is  crescent- 
formed,  and  terminates  to  the  west  as  though  it  had  once 
formed  a  cape,  projecting  into  the  lake  from  the  moun- 
tains on  the  east — in  miniature,  perhaps,  not  unlike  the 
strip  of  land  dividing  the  sea  of  AzoS  from  the  Putrid 
Sea.  From  this  beach  the  Tuilla  [Tooele]  Valley  ascends 
gradually  towards  the  south,  and  in  a  few  miles  becomes 
partly  blocked  up  by  a  cross-range  of  mountains  with 
passages  at  either  end  however,  leading  over  quite  as 
remarkable  beaches,  into  what  is  known  to  the  Mormons 
as  Eush  Valley,  in  which  there  are  still  small  lakes  or 
ponds,  once,  doubtless,  forming  part  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  99 

"The  recessions  of  the  waters  of  the  lake  from  the 
beaches  at  these  comparatively  slight  elevations,  took 
place  beyond  all  doubt,  within  a  very  modern  geological 
period;  and  the  volume  of  the  water  of  the  lake  at  each 
subsidence — by  whatever  cause  produced,  and  whether 
by  gradual  or  spasmodic  action —  seems  as  plainly  to 
have  been  diminished;  for  its  present  volume  is  not 
sufficient  to  form  a  lake  of  even  two  or  three  feet  in 
depth  over  the  area  indicated  by  these  shores,  and,  if 
existing,  would  be  annually  dried  up  during  the  sum- 
mer. 

******* 

"But  high  above  these  diminutive  banks  of  recent 
date,  on  the  mountains  to  the  east,  south,  and  west,  and 
on  the  islands  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  formations  are 
seen,  preserving,  apparently,  a  uniform  elevation  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  extend, — formations  on  a  magnificent 
scale,  which,  hastily  examined,  seem  no  less  unmistaka- 
bly than  the  former  to  indicate  their  shore  origin. 
They  are  elevated  from  two  or  three  hundred  to  six  or 
eight  hundred  feet  above  the  present  lake;  and  if  upon 
a  thorough  examination  they  prove  to  be  ancient  shores, 
they  will  perhaps  afford  (being  easily  traced  on  the 
numerous  mountains  of  the  Basin)  the  means  of  deter- 
mining the  character  of  the  sea  by  which  they  were 
formed/'  etc.* 


*  Lieut.  E.  G.  Beckwith,  in  Pacific  Railroad  reports,  vol.  2,  p,  67: 
Washington,  1855, 


100  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

Observations  were  accumulated  by  Blake,  Simpson 
and  his  assistant,  Englemann,  by  King,  Hague,  Em- 
mons,  Hayden,  Bradley,  Poole,  Peale,  and  others,  all  in- 
creasing our  stock  of  information  regarding  the  ancient 
lakes  of  the  Great  Basin,  and  bearing  more  or  less  di- 
rectly on  the  early  history  of  what  is  now  the  Great 
Salt  Lake.*  But  it  is  to  Grove  Karl  Gilbert  and  his 
associates  to  whom  we  owe  the  greater  part  of  our  pres- 
ent knowledge  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  and  its  geological 
history.  His  report,  forming  the  first  volume  of  the  U. 
S.  Geological  Survey  monographs,  is  the  standard  work 
on  the  subject. 

Careful  examination  furnishes  evidence  at  once 
abundant  and  conclusive  that  this  ancient  lake  extended 
southward  over  the  Sevier  Desert,  and  probably  over  the 
Escalante  Desert  also,  nearly  to  the  Arizona  line;  west- 
ward over  the  Great  Desert,  into  Nevada;  and  northward 
to  the  upper  limit  of  Cache  valley  and  therefore  25  miles 
beyond  the  Idaho  boundary.  It  formed  the  largest  of 
the  many  flooded  Pleistocene  lakes  of  the  Basin  region. 
In  1876,  Gilbert  named  this  inland  sea  Lake  Bonne ville, 
in  honor  of  Captain  Bonneville,  who  gave  the  first  au- 
thentic description  of  the  existing  lake  as  a  result  of  his 
explorations  in  1833,  and  after  whom  Washington 
Irving  endeavored  to  establish  the  name  "Lake  Bonne- 


*  For  an  excellent  summary  of  investigations  on  the  past  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake,  see  "Lake  Bonneville,"  pp.  12-19. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  101 

ville"  as  the  designation  of  the  existing  Great  Salt  Lake. 
When  at  its  highest  level,  Lake  Bonneville  had  an 
extreme  north  and  south  length  of  300  miles,  a  greatest 
east  and  west  extent  of  180  miles;  it  presented  an  area 
of  19,750  square  miles.  The  lake  reached  from  42  de- 
grees 30  minutes  to  37  degrees  30  minutes  north  lati- 
tude, and  was  divided  almost  equally  by  the  line  of  113 
degrees  west  longitude. 


The  Great  Salt  Lake,  while  it  is  the  largest  and  most 
important,  is  not  the  only  existing  fragment  of  Lake 
Bonneville.  Utah  and  Sevier  lakes  remain,  occupying 
the  lowest  parts  of  their  separate  valleys  to  the  south. 
Lake  Utah  is  a  body  of  fresh  water  with  127  square  miles 
surface;  it  sends  its  overflow  through  the  Jordan  Eiver 
northward  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  Sevier  Lake  is  a 
saline  body  of  variable  dimensions,  attaining  during  hu- 
mid seasons  a  considerable  area.  In  1872,  it  covered  188 
square  miles;  while  in  dry  times  it  practically  evaporates 
away,  leaving  a  crj^stalline  residuum  of  impure  sodium 
chloride  and  sulphate  five  inches  in  depth,  to  mark  the 
lowest  part  of  its  site. 

The  principal  divisions  of  Lake  Bonneville  were:  (1) 
The  main  body,  comprising  the  area  of  the  existing  lake 
and.  that  of  the  Salt  Lake  Desert;  (2)  Cache  bay  to  the 
north;  (3)  Sevier  bay,  and  (4)  Escalante  bay,  to  the 


102  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

south.  The  names  used  are  identical  with  the  existing 
geographical  designations.  These  parts  of  the  great  lake 
were  defined  by  peninsulas  and  archipelagos,  which  ap- 
pear today  as  hills  and  mountain  spurs,  while  the  con- 
necting straits  are  represented  by  valley  passes.  These 
facts  are  shown  on  the  accompanying  map.  Some  of 
the  hills  rising  from  the  plain,  which  constitutes  the 
Salt  Lake  Desert,  have  their  bases  deeply  buried  beneath 
lake  sediments;  they  rise  from  the  land  level  as  abruptly" 
as  the  islands  of  the  present  lake  above  the  water,  and 
the  popular  names  by  which  they  are  known,  designate 
them  as  islands  still.  (See  plate  XIX.) 


The  shore  lines  appearing  upon  the  mountain  sides 
against  which  the  ancient  waters  beat,  are,  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  their  extent,  so  distinct  that  even  the 
school  boy  is  led  to  think  of  them  as  old  water  margins. 
Along  these  terraces  abundant  proofs  of  littoral  struc- 
ture may  be  found.  In  places  pebbly  beaches  tell  of 
lapping  waves,  while  the  covering  and  cementing  tufa 
attached  to  the  worn  stones  testifies  to  chemical  precip- 
itation or  deposit  by  evaporation.  Ripple  marks  are  as 
clearly  shown  in  the  sandstones  and  hardened  clays  as  on 
the  shores  which  are  at  present  washed  by  the  briny 
waters.  Embankments,  wave-cut  caves,  and  all  the  other 
usual  phenomena  of  littoral  action  exist  in  a  state  of  im- 
pressive perfection.  In  many  places,  especially  along 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  103 

the  eastern  margin,  where  the  waters  beat  against  the 
face  of  the  Wasatch  mountains,  the  lines  have  suffered 
extensive  deformation  through  fault  disturbances;  in- 
deed, in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
the  fault  scarp  is  so  fresh  as  to  still  present  the  rough 
face  of  recent  fracture. 

The  work  of  stream  erosion  is  apparent  in  the  trans- 
verse gashing  of  the  shore  terraces;  this  and  the  erosive 
action  of  atmospheric  agencies  are  operating  toward  a 
general  degradation  of  the  terrace  structure.  These  de- 
structive processes,  however,  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to 
hide,  or  even  to  seriously  disfigure  the  evidence  of  for- 
mer conditions.  The  map  of  Lake  Bonneville  can  be 
drawn  with  as  great  an  assurance  of  accuracy  as  attends 
the  charting  of  any  existing  water  body.  (See  plate 
XV.) 

Each  shore  line  indicates,  of  course,  a  practically 
constant  level  of  the  lake  during  a  considerable  length 
of  time,  or  a  periodical  return  to  the  same  level  at  short 
intervals  during  a  long  cycle  of  years.  There  is,  however, 
little  evidence  of  interruption  in  the  process  of  shore 
sculpture,  and  a  constancy  of  level  rather  than  a  return 
of  the  water  to  the  same  height  at  each  of  the  stages 
marked  by  a  shore  line  is  indicated.  On  the  Oquirrh 
mountains  bounding  the  Salt  Lake  valley  on  the  west/ten 
distinct  lines  have  been  counted,  sketched,  and  photo- 
graphed by  the  writer;  but  here,  as  indeed  all  along  the 
old  shore  margin,  three  principal  levels  appear  and  a 


304  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

fourth  is  seen  with  great  distinctness  on  one  of  the  large 
islands  of  the  lake.  These  have  been  designated  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  The  Bonneville  shore  line,  the  highest  and  most 
conspicuous;  this  is  at  a  height  of  1,000  feet  above  the 
present  mean  level  of  the  water. 

2.  Provo  shore  line,  375  feet  below  the  Bonneville. 
This  was  named  by  Howell  from  the  great  size  and  per- 
fection of  the  delta  constructed  at  this    level  by  the 
Provo  Eiver  as  it  enters  Utah  valley  from  the  canyon. 

3.  Intermediate  shore  lines,  between  the  Bonneville 
and  the  Provo.    These  lines  show  a  series  of  fluctuations 
in  lake  level  each  of  comparatively     short     duration. 
While  the  embankments  are  large  they  are  devoid  of 
great  sea  cliffs  and  caves  such  as  characterize  the  Bonne- 
ville and  the  Provo.    On  Stansbury  Island,  one  of  the 
largest  bodies  of  land  rising  from  the  waters  of  the  Salt 
Lake,  a  lower  level  has  left  a  clearly  defined  terrace,  300 
feet  above  the  present  water  surface;  this  has     been 
called: 

4.  Stansbury  shore  line. 

The  chronological  order  of  the  principal  shore  line 
formation  is  as  follows:  1.  Intermediate;  2.  Bonneville; 
3.  Provo;  4.  Stansbury.  While  the  Bonneville  level  is 
the  highest  and  most  conspicuous  of  the  shore 
terraces,  it  marks  a  shorter  duration  of  constant  level 
than  does  the  Provo.  It  is  in  fact  the  most  conspicuous 
because  it  is  the  highest,  deriving  its  prominence  from 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  105 

its  clearly  defined  contrast  with  the  features  of  sub-aerial 
topography  immediately  above  it.  (See  plate  XVIII.) 


Years  prior  to  the  discovery  of  any  outlet  through 
which  the  great  lake  could  have  discharged  its  surplus 
waters,  the  existence  of  such  an  escape  channel  was  pre- 
dicted. Gilbert  declared  (1)  that  the  Bonneville  shore 
lines  would  be  found  to  have  been  determined  by  an 
overflow  of  lake  water,  and  (2)  that  the  Provo  line  would 
be  traceable  to  a  similar  determining  cause.* 
Writing  in  1890  he  says:  "The  first  of  these  pre- 
dictions has  been  verified  in  its  letter,  but  not  in  its 
spirit;  the  second  has  proved  to  have  full  warrant.  My 
anticipation  was  based  on  the  following  consideration: 
A  lake  without  overflow  has  its  extent  determined  by 
the  ratio  of  precipitation  to  evaporation  within  its  basin; 
and  since  this  ratio  is  inconstant,  fluctuating  from  year 
to  year  and  from  decade  to  decade,  it  is  highly  improb- 
able that  the  water  level  will  remain  constant  long 
enough  to  permit  its  waves  to  carve  a  deep  record.  I 
failed  to  take  account  of  the  fact  that  the  highest  shore- 
mark  of  the  series  is  conspicuous  by  reason  of  the  con- 
trast there  exhibited  between  land  sculpture  and  littoral 
sculpture.  We  know  that  the  height  of  the  Bonneville 
shore-line  was  determined  in  a  certain  sense  by  overflow, 
since  a  discharge  limited  the  rise  of  the  water;  but  the 


*  Exploration  West  of  the  100th  Meridian,  III.,  p,  90. 


106  THE  GREAT    SALT  LAKE. 

carving  of  the  shore  was  essentially  completed  before  the 
discharge,  and  as  soon  as  that  began  the  water  fell.  At 
the  Provo  horizon,  on  the  contrary,  a  constant  or  nearly 
constant  water-level  was  maintained  by  discharge  for  a 
long  time."  * 

The  search  for  the  Bonneville  outlet  was  prosecuted 
with  the  assurance  that  such  a  channel  existed.  A  num- 
ber of  passes  were  found  but  slightly  above  the  required 
level,  and  indeed  "a  difference  of  only  a  few  feet  deter- 
mined the  actual  point  of  discharge."  On  the  northern 
rim  of  Cache  valley  at  Red  Eock  Pass,  near  Oxford, 
Idaho,  the  outlet  channel  was  discovered.  The  topo- 
graphical features  and  the  erosion  record  were  so  dis- 
tinct as  to  place  the  question  of  the  source  of  Bonneville 
River  practically  beyond  doubt.  The  honor  of  this  dis- 
covery is  accorded  to  Gilbert,  though  Peale  has 
disputed  Gilbert's  rights  of  priority  on  the  basis 
of  Bradley's  suggestion,  made  in  1872.  f  Bonne- 
ville River  flowed  through  Marsh  Valley,  be- 
ing joined  in  this  part  of  its  course  by  the 
Portneuf.  The  combined  streams  then  followed 
Portneuf  Pass  to  Snake  River,  thence  to  the  Columbia. 
Above  its  junction  with  the  Portneuf  the  Bonneville 
River  must  have  equalled  and  possibly  exceeded  in  size 
the  Niagara.  Regarding  the  duration  of  the  river's  ex- 
istence Gilbert  says: 


*  Lake  Bonneville,  p.  171. 

t  American  Journal  of  Science,  June,  1878. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  107 

"How  long  the  discharging  river  maintained  its  col- 
ossal dimensions  can  not  be  learned,  but  the  period  cer- 
tainly was  not  great.  The  entire  prism  of  water  between 
Bonneville  and  Provo  planes  would  be  discharged  by  the 
Niagara  channel  in  less  than  twenty-five  years;  and  if 
the  Bonneville  River  reached  a  greater  size,  it  would 
have  maintained  it  only  for  a  shorter  time."* 


Alluvial  fans  and  deltas  exist  at  the  mouths  of  can- 
yons opening  into  the  valley.  Of  the  fans  or  cones, 
some  were  constructed  prior  to  the  Bonneville  epoch, 
while  others  show  by  the  absence  of  shore  lines  and  lake 
sediments  that  they  are  more  recent  than  the  high  water 
marks.  A  typical  alluvial  cone  of  large  dimensions  oc- 
curs at  the  base  of  a  prominent  spur  of  the  Wasatch 
range  a  mile  north  of  Salt  Lake  City.  This  cone  de- 
rives additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  its  surface 
shows  the  course  of  a  well  developed  fault  scarp.  In 
Salt  Lake  valley  and  elsewhere  the  alluvial  cones  formed 
by  the  streams  issuing  from  canyon  openings  at  short 
intervals  coalesce  and  present  the  appearance  of  almost 
continuous  terraces.  In.  such  cases  the  existing  stream 
reveals  a  section  of  the  deposit,  a  study  of  which,  to- 
gether with  an  examination  of  the  slope  and  general 
configuration  will  enable  the  observer  to  distinguish  be- 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,  "|p.  177, 


108  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

tween  the  cone  formation  on  the  one  hand  and  the  lake 
terrace  and  delta  on  the  other. 

The  existence  of  deltas  along  the  old  lake  shores 
was  pointed  out  by  Bradley  in  1872;*  hut  it  remained  for 
Ho  well  and  Gilbert  to  give  the  subject  full  and  careful 
study.  While  in  places  delta  formations  are  preserved  at 
the  Bonneville  level,  the  best  and  largest  belong  to  the 
Provo  stage.  The  streams  following  the  receding  lake 
would  indeed  destroy  much  of  their  own  delta  construc- 
tion at  higher  levels  and  earlier  periods.  However,  at 
some  places  the  delta  structure  presents  a  record  of  In- 
termediate, Bonneville,  and  Provo  stages  complete.  Fol- 
lowing the  American  Fork  river  from  the  canyon  to- 
ward the  mouth  of  the  stream  in  Utah  Lake,the  observer 
may  read  the  history  of  delta  formation  and  destruction 
with  comparative  ease.  As  revealed  by  the  stream-made 
section  the  Bonneville  delta  shows  a  height  of  120  feet 
at  its  outer  margin,  and  a  radius  of  over  4,800  feet.  The 
Intermediate  delta  being  the  first  formed,,  was  partly 
covered  by  the  later  Bonneville;  both  were  cut  through 
by  the  stream  as  the  lake  fell  to  the  Provo  level,  and  the 
material  so  removed  was  built  into  a  still  younger  delta. 

The  deltas  of  the  Logan  river  form  a  series  of  sloping 
terraces  extending  downward  from  the  mountain  face. 
Each  delta  indicates  the  partial  destruction  of  earlier  de- 
positions above.  In  Salt  Lake  valley,  the  delta  formed 


*  "Geological  Survey  of  the  Territories,"  1872,  p.  192. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  109 

by  City  Creek  (the  main  source  of  the  water  supply  for 
Salt  Lake  City  today),  reveals  itself  as  high  benches 
through  which  the  stream  has  kept  for  itself  a  passage. 
Wave-action  appears  to  have  been  unusually  strong  at 
this  place,  and  consequently  the  typical  delta  form  is 
considerably  modified.  The  delta  constructed  by  the 
Provo  river  in  Utah  valley,  covers  over  20,000  acres,  and 
another  occurs  a  few  miles  to  the  south — the  work  of 
the  Spanish  Fork  stream — with  an  area  of  8,000  acres. 


The  occurrence  of  calcium  carbonate,  usually  as  cal- 
careous tufa,  is  common  to  the  shores  of  most  of  the 
Great  Basin  lakes.  The  extensive  accumulation  of  this 
material  in  Lake  Lahontan  has  received  due  attention 
from  King  andKussell.*  InLakeBonneville,however,the 
deposition  has  taken  place  on  a  small  scale  only.  Where 
this  material  occurs  at  all  it  is  found  as  an  incrustation 
on  the  faces  of  cliffs,  or  as  a  cement  coating  the  pebbles 
and  forming  them  into  a  coherent  conglomerate.  None 
of  the  calcareous  deposit  is  found  in  spots  which  once 
were  quiet  coves  or  bays;  while  the  largest  quantities 
occur  where  the  waves  must  have  produced  the  strongest 
surf  action.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  aeration  of 
the  water  probably  promoted  the  precipitation  of  the 
calcium  carbonate,  and  that  the  particles  coalesced  at 


*  "Exploration  of  the  40th  Parallel,  I.,  p.  514." 


110  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

the  instant  of  separation.*  In  the  open  lake 
the  deposition  of  calcium  carbonate  went  on  in 
the  usual  manner,  the  particles  remaining  sep- 
arate and  forming  an  ordinary  sediment.  None  of 
the  Thinolite,  named  and  described  by  King  in  connec- 
tion with  Lahontan  and  Mono  lakes,  has  thus  far  been 
found  within  the  Bonneville  district. 


That  the  diminution  of  lake  volume  from  the  height 
of  the  Provo  line  to  the  present  level,  is  due  to  desic- 
cation and  not  to  a  process  of  emptying  by  overflow, 
is  shown  by  the  absence  of  any  break  or  notch  in  the  rim 
below  the  level  of  the  shore  named,  through  which  the 
water  could  have  found  an  outlet,  and  from  the  deposits 
of  mineral  matter  in  the  lake  floor.  In  the  parts  recently 
vacated  by  the  receding  waters,  the  saline  matters 
effloresce  upon  the  soil  during  dry  seasons,  and  disap- 
pear in  times  of  abundant  precipitation.  Careful  analy- 
ses of  these  substances  show  marked  correspondence  with 
the  mineral  contents  of  today.  As  the  retreating  waters 
divided  the  lake  into  separate  areas,  each  lakelet  pro- 
ceeded in  the  process  of  desiccation  according  to  its  own 
relative  conditions  of  supply  and  evaporation. 

In  some  parts,  particularly  in  the  region  of  the  old 
Sevier  body  of  Lake  Bonneville,  deposits  of  gypsum  are 
found.  These  may  not  be  the  effect  of  any  chemical  de- 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  p. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  Ill 

position;  as  Gilbert  suggests,  they  may  be  the  result  of 
evaporation  of  water  that  had  derived  the  material  by 
simple  solution  from  the  rocks.  The  gypsum  is  occas- 
sionally  found  in  the  form  of  small  free  crystals,  and  as 
in  the  Sevier  desert,  these  may  be  drifted  by  wind  action 
into  glistening  dunes.  The  author  of  the  monograph  on 
Lake  Bonneville  says: 

"Perhaps  no  gypsum  deposit  in  the  world  is  so  easily 
exploited  as  this;  it  needs  merely  to  be  shoveled  into 
wagons  and  hauled  away.  Mr.  Eussell  estimates  that 
the  dunes  contain  about  450,000  tons,  and  a  much  larger 
amount  can  be  obtained  from  the  playa."* 


While  the  exposure  of  an  extensive  series  of  forma- 
tions and  systems  of  rocks  is  made  visible  by  the  oro- 
genic  disturbances  which  have  resulted  in  the  elevation 
of  the  Wasatch  and  contiguous  ranges,  these  aid  us  but 
little  in  determining  the  time  of  the  Bonneville  epoch 
or  the  age  of  the  lake  beds.  In  the  lake  floor,  however, 
fairly  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the  true  geological  age 
may  be  found.  Tertiary  strata  of  well  determined  age 
exist  within  the  Bonneville  basin  and  in  places  these  are 
found  unconformably  overlaid  by  the  lake  sediments. 
The  Tertiary  deposits,  while  presenting  a  wide  variety 
of  texture,  are  quite  readily  distinguishable  from  the 


*"Lake  Bonneville,  p.223." 


112  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

later  lacustrine  beds  by  lithological  character  and  by 
their  disturbed  positions.  It  is  evident  therefore  that 
the  lake  deposits  are  post-Tertiary.  Moreover  the  "Bon- 
neville  beds  are  thus  seen  to  be  the  latest  lacustrine  de- 
posit of  the  basin,  and  this  fact  indicates  their  synchron- 
ism with  the  latest  littoral  evidence  of  a  lacustrine  con- 
dition." 

Over  the  valley  surface  the  beds  are  practically  un- 
disturbed; in  some  parts  they  rise  by  gentle  slopes  almost 
to  the  level  of  the  shore  lines.  Gilbert  has  carefully 
studied  the  section  exposed  along  the  old  river  bed,  run- 
ning northwest  from  the  Sevier  desert,  between  Mc- 
Dowell and  Simpson  mountains  to  the  Salt  Lake  desert, 
and  this  he  announces  as  almost  a  typical  sec- 
tion.* Through  this  channel  a  stream  connected 
Sevier  Lake  with  the  larger  Salt  Lake,  after 
the  division  of  Lake  Bonneville  into  separate  bodies  in 
its  shrinkage  course.  This  river  existed  in  post-Provo 
times,  for  the  shore  lines  extend  along  the  bordering 
hillsides,  the  Bonneville  line  being  fully  700  feet  above 
the  highest  banks  of  the  channel.  Gilbert  states  that  his 
exploration  "demonstrated  that  the  entire  site  of  the 
channel  was  submerged  during  both  Bonneville  and 
Provo  epochs/7  The  channel  walls  of  the  old  river  bed 
reveal  the  following  members  in  ascending  order: 

1.  Yellow  clay  with  local    dashes    of    sand    sedi- 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  p.  190. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  113 

ment  and  nodular  aggregates  of  selenite  crystals.  Of  this 
a  depth  of  ninety  feet  is  exposed,  but  the  bottom  has  not 
been  reached. 

2.  White  marl,  a  layer  ten  feet  in  thickness,  over- 
lying the  yellow  clay,  on  an  eroded  surface.    The  lower 
layers  of  the  marl  contain  shells  of  nearly  the  same 
species  as  occur  in  the  clay  below. 

3.  Free  sand;  a  top  layer  grading  without  break  of 
continuity  into  the  marl  below;  an  average  thickness  of 
ten  feet  is  recorded.    This  succession  of  beds  is  less  dis- 
tinct on  the  slopes  and  particularly  so  near  the   shore 
lines  where  the  true  sedimentary  deposits  are  mixed 
with  littoral  material.    The  eroded  surface  of  the  yellow 
clay  indicates  a  break  in  the  process  of  lake  deposition, 
and  this  interruption  is  further  shown  by  the  alluvial  de- 
posits and  all  the  proofs  of  sub-aerial  erosion  between 
the  yellow  clay  and  the  white  marl.    It  is  evident  there- 
fore that  there  are  two  distinct  flood  times  in  the  Bonne- 
ville  history,  two  periods  of  greatest  operation  of  lacus- 
trine agencies  separated  by  a  perior  of   dryness.     The 
second  of  these  periods  was  probably  not  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  duration  of  the  first.     Gilbert  sums  up  the 
evidence  on  the  subject  as  follows:* 

"Then  followed  two  epochs  of  high  water,  with  an 
interval  during  which  the  basin  was  nearly  or  quite 
empty.  The  first  of  these  epochs  was  at  least  five  times 

*  "Lake  Bonneville,"  p.  317. 


114  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

as  long  as  the  second.  The  second  scored  its  water  mark 
ninety  feet  higher  than  the  first,  and  would  have  en- 
croached still  farther  on  the  basin  sides  had  it  not  been 
checked  by  outflow.  During  the  epoch  of  outflow,  the 
discharging  current  eroded  the  rim,and  thus  lowered  the 
lake  375  feet; and  after  the  outflow  had  ceased,  the  water 
fell  by  desiccation,  with  one  notable  interruption,  to  its 
present  level  in  Great  Salt  Lake.  The  inter-Bonneville 
epoch  of  low  water  was  of  greater  duration  than  the  time 
that  had  elapsed  since  the  final  desiccation." 

A  similar  dual  flooding  has  been  demonstrated  bj 
the  labors  of  King  and  Russell  in  the  region  of  Lake 
Lahontan,  a  body  of  water  which  may  be  regarded  as  a 
twin  sister  to  Lake  Bonneville.* 

The  correlation  of  these  periods  of  maximum  flood- 
ing with  the  prime  divisions  of  the  Glacial  Epoch  has 
been  established  with  considerable  certainty.  The  evi- 
dence points  to  periods  of  low  temperature  correspond- 
ing with  the  times  of  greatest  water  surface.  Low' tem- 
perature with  consequent  decrease  of  loss  by  evaporation 
is  an  important  factor,  if  not  indeed,  the  most  effective 
among  the  causes  which  determined  the  successive  max- 
ima of  Lake  Bonneville  and  its  related  water  bodies  in 
the  Basin. 

The  fossils,  particularly  the  fresh  water  shells,  tes- 
tify to  unfavorable  conditions  of  growth.  They  are  few 

*  "Exploration  of  the  40th  Parallel,"  I.,  p.  524. 


LAKE  BONNEVILLE.  115 

and  in  the  individuals  are  dwarfed,  as  would  be  ex- 
pected of  species  struggling  for  life  under  the  rigors  of 
a  glacial  climate.  Quoting  again:* 

"In  the  case  of  Lake  LahontaiL,  and  in  the  case  of 
the  first  Lake  Bonneville,  the  unfavorable  condition 
may  possibly  have  been  impurity  of  water,  but  the  sec- 
ond Lake  Bonneville  was  freshened  by  outflow,  and  the 
dwarfing  of  its  mollusks  is  best  explained  by  low  temper- 
ature. *  *  *  These  phenomena  sustain  the 
theory  that  the  Pleistocene  lakes  of  the  western  United 
States  were  coincident  with  the  Pleistocene  glaciers-  of 
the  same  district,  and  were  produced  by  the  same  cli- 
matic changes.  It  follows  as  a  corollary  that  the  glacial 
history  of  this  region  was  bipartite,  two  maxima  of  gla- 
eiation  being  separated,  not  by  a  mere  variation  in  in- 
tensity, but  by  a  cessation  of  glaciation." 


Well-defined  ice  deposits  occur  in  a  few  places  along 
the  old  shore,  below  the  high  water  marks.  One  of  the 
best  examples  is  found  at  the  mouth  of  Little  Cotton- 
wood  Cany  on  but  a  few  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City  (See 
plates  XXI)  Emmons  first  directed  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  glacier  here  referred  to  deposited  its  moraines 
within  the  Bonneville  area,  f  The  south  lateral  moraine  is 
well  preserved;  the  other  has  lost  its  typical  form,  prob- 


*  "Lake  Bonneville,  p.  318." 
t  "Exploration  of  the  40th  Parallel,"  II.,  p.  354. 


116  THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE. 

I 

ably  through  an  expansion  or  a  change  of  direction  of 
the  glacier  whereby  the  north  moraine  was  disfigured. 
The  moraine  material  is  traceable  downward  from  the 
canyon  gateway  for  a  full  mile  upon  the  plain,  and  in  its 
lower  parts  it  is  covered  by  alluvium  to  a  depth  of  sixty- 
five  feet  at  least,  and  by  a  lacustrine  deposit  of  sand. 
The  glacier  existed  during  a  period  of  high  water — prob- 
ably that  of  the  Provo  shore  line. 

Major  Powell  presents  a  summary  of  the  labors  of 
his  associates  on  Bonneville  history  in  this  concise  way:* 

"First,  the  waters  were  low,  occupying,  as  Great  Salt 
Lake  now  does,  only  a  limited  portion  of  the  bottom  of 
the  basin.  Then  they  gradually  rose  and  spread,  form- 
ing an  inland  sea,  nearly  equal  to  Lake  Huron  in  extent, 
with  a  maximum  depth  of  1,000  feet.  Then  the  waters 
fell,  and  the  lake  not  merely  dwindled  in  size,  but  abso- 
lutely disappeared,  leaving  a  plain  even  more  desolate 
than  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Desert  of  today.  Then  they 
again  rose,  surpassing  even  their  former  height,  and 
eventually  overflowing  the  basin  at  its  northern  edge, 
sending  a  tributary  stream  to  the  Columbia  Eiyer;  and, 
last,  there  was  a  second  recession,  and  the  waters  shrunk 
away,  until  now  only  Great  Salt  Lake  and  two  -smaller 
lakes  remain." 

*  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  report  for  1880-81,  p.  xvii. 


